Welcome To The Black Parade
by tearsofamaidensheart
Summary: What would you do if your brothers were running from an entire underworld? Maria Connrad is now in for the fight of her life, with only a cryptic clue 'find the four paladins of the Apple Tree.', as her last way of saving her famiy, before time runs out.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's rant of doom**: Inspiration is so darn hard to fight! Grr. I gave up fighting when I started dreaming about it. (That was enough for me. I've had it. Now it's leaving me alone, but it can really be annoying.)

For anybody who's at all worried about my other story, First of all, Thanks! I don't get that much. Secondly, don't worry bout it. I will continue **Shell Shock**. Promise. I'm no quitter.

Anywho, not too much to say about it, other than this is dedicated to my eldest brother. Corey if you're reading this, (Which I seriously doubt you are, but it's a nice thought.) I love ya. Hope everybody likes this one.

* * *

**_Rated T for_**: Violence. What else? Possible language. Nothing too heavy.

_Inspiration_: Brothers. Their a pain in the neck when their around, and a pain in the heart when their gone.

Blame: Swanna, this one goes to you. Period. You practically forced me to watch TMNT last weekend, making this story resurface. You get mad at me, and I'll box you. I. don't. care.

**Comment to fellow TMNT fans**: I don't watch the 2003 toons so much as I watch the old toons. Blame my bro's for that one. I like the new stuff, just not as much. Don't worry, I'll try to do em justice, cause we all love em.

* * *

'Run'

'Run...' The thought surged through the young man. He was in his early twenties, with a thin, athletic figure. Sweat poured down his back, as he pumped his legs. His blue-grey eyes scanned the roof-top ahead of him, as he vaulted to the next building, tumbling onto his back like a turtle.

'Get up!' He thought, turning over, and shoving himself to his feet. And like that, he was off again. He was fast, and he knew it, but the main question remained. Was he fast enough?

'Run.' He thought again, the thought a little more urgent this time. His feet felt like they were on fire, as his speed increased.

'Can't give in now,' He thought, pushing forward. 'It's resting on me...'

Behind him, five pursuers. They were slower; a pitiful trait for a ninja, but then again, Lee had never found anyone faster than him ever since he could remember. They were all clad in black, with only one speck of color on their uniforms. A red foot, stamped dead-center of their uniforms. It almost looked like someone had stepped on their clothes with a foot coated in red paint.

'Doesn't matter now,' Lee thought, as he pushed himself further ahead. 'Just gotta keep it up for as long as I can...'

Suddenly, he came to a halt. The next roof-top was too far-away to jump. He growled, and whirled to face his pursuers. Their number had tripled to a full fifteen.

'I hate it when they do that...' Lee thought, pulling his fists up in a boxing stance. 'Annoying.'

The first one came at him, and tried to chop him the neck. Lee caught the blow, and twisted the ninja away. Then they all came at once. Lee jabbed, and kicked the first two aside. A third overpowered him, sending both himself, and his quarry to the ground. Lee smashed his face in with a vicious box to the jaw. Then, knocking aside his victim, Lee jumped back up, and gave a hard left at another ninja who stood in wait. Another jumped him from behind, wrapping his arms tightly around the man's neck.

With a battle cry, Lee ripped the man from his back, and threw him over his shoulder. There was a loud crack as the man landed on the ground.

Four more attacked Lee at once, and at last brought the man to his knees. Two held him down, struggling with the man's constant movement.

The third had been heaved off the roof, but the fourth remained, to kick him hard in the gut. Lee coughed, and sputtered. He glared up at the black clad, black masked, ninja.

The assailant moved to the side. A man nearly four times Lee's bulk walked up, glaring at Lee with angry, little beady eyes. He was clad in plain khaki pants, and a huge shirtless black shirt.

"You stole from us." The man stated plainly. "My master finds your boldness an admirable quality. He extends and invitation to join him, should you give up his-" The giant man paused, squinting his black, beady eyes at Lee.

'Must be racking that pathetic excuse of a brain for a word outside of his feeble vocabulary.' Lee thought, a small smile twitching on his lips.

"-Package." The man decided at last. "Or they might find your body on the beach this time tomorrow."

Lee laughed. "And reveal your existence to the world? Stupid."

The large man scowled. Bending over, he shoved his thick fist into Lee's smaller, thinner body.

Lee let out a gasp, as he was deprived of all the air that had been in his lungs minutes before. Blood spurted from his mouth, along with his very breath.

As he rasped for his breath, the giant pushed himself back to his full height. "Search him." He ordered the ninja standing next to him, turning away, as if disgusted by Lee.

Lee looked up, a wry smile on his lips. "You won't find it on me." He declared.

This caught the beady eyed man's attention. He turned back to face the man.

"That's right." He laughed ruefully. "I got rid of it. You'll never find it."

The giant made a signal, and the ninja holding Lee down, released him. Again the monstrous sized man stooped over, but this time, he wrapped his huge hands around Lee's skull, and picked him up off the ground.

"Where?" He asked, his eyes squinting.

Lee's smile widened. "A place I myself should've thought of years ago."

* * *

"He's _what_!?" The shriek could be heard from outside of the large, spacious home, if it were not for the fact that the neighbors lived a little too far away to hear more than loud shouting from the outside, and not the inside.

Inside, was a scene of turmoil. Three children were gathered up into the master bedroom, facing their parents.

The cry came from the eldest, a girl of some fifteen years, nearly sixteen. Her green eyes were wide with shock, and pain. Her mouth was hanging open, and her long messy hair was tossed into a ponytail. Her dark skin set her apart from the others in the room, as well as her loud, shocked response to her parent's announcement.

"What do you mean he's missing!?" The girl cried out in a shrill, pained cry. "He just had his surgery! Where would he go!? Who would want to take him!?" She wrung her hands, and then threw them into the air. "What did they say Mom?" She asked, her voice a little calmer than moments before. "What do they know?"

Her mother, a woman sitting on the bed with her husband shook her head. Her face was stained with tears, and her pretty green eyes were red with grief. Her curly blond hair was a mess from her neglecting to fix it at the news she had received.

"Nothing. They don't know anymore than we do. He was out all Friday evening, and they haven't seen him since." The woman gasped, breaking into sobs.

The second oldest child, another girl, crossed her arms. She was a shorter girl, of only twelve, or thirteen years of age. Her short blonde hair lay straight against her pale face. Her green eyes were clouded with annoyance, and mostly disinterest. "Pretty dumb of him for running out right after surgery." She muttered.

The older girl turned an angry glare upon her sister. "Shut up!" She snapped, her hands balling into fists. "Like you're one to talk!"

The younger girl glared back, and in a mocking tone twittered; "Oh I'm bored. I'm gonna go get into trouble, and disappear!"

The older girl had taken enough. She slugged her sister hard in the gut. The younger sister howled, and with a snarl, bit her arm.

"Girls!" The mother shouted, rushing between the two. "Behave yourselves! This is no time for a fight!"

The older girl glowered at her younger sister. "I know you hate him, but Lee took you to do stuff, even when you were being an obnoxious jerk to him! Can't you even give him the courtesy of worry!? Or even a dignified silence!?"

"Oh, and what?" The younger girl snorted. "Act all emo like you? Yeah right."

The older sister whirled away, running out of the house, towards the woods. Tears streamed down her face, as emotions raged within her. She was angry with herself for her lack of self-control, with Anne for being a rude, stuck up prick when everyone else was already hurting. She was also hurt at her Older brother's disappearance, and how little was really known about what had happened to him.

At last, she stopped running, finding herself at her favorite spot in their woods. It was her own little cave hidden by thick underbrush, and right next to the small trickling stream there. She sat down next to the water, thinking it over. Wonder struck her. What could possibly take someone like Lee away from his base, and away from contact to their family? He was fit physically. He had been trained by the military for endurance. What happened to him?

She shook her head. 'Where's Sherlock Holmes when you need him? ...Course, he's not real, so I'm out of luck.'

She let out a heavy sigh rubbing her temples in agitation.

"Lee..." She sighed. "You had better turn up soon so I can kick your but to the moon, you moron..."

With that, Maria Connrad closed her eyes, and sent a silent plea to God for the safe return of her oldest brother.

* * *

Any questions? I'll take em. Along with reviews. Thanks for your time folks.


	2. Enter David

Okay, because I'm going to be beyond busy for the next couple of months, doing what I do in the summer, I'm going to update now, and come back when I've got more time. There ya go... To all ... two people who care...

Right...

* * *

**Rated T for:**Violence, possible laungage. (In it's place, not anywhere else.)

_Insperation:_ Brothers, Pain in the neck when they're around, and a pain in the heart when they're gone.

Thanks to: _Pretender Fanatic_, hope this lives up to your expectations. ( Or better yet, beyond.)

* * *

David Connrad sat stewing over his biggest problem. Lee had been caught, and that was a bad sign. His oldest brother was fast on his feet, and one of the greatest people at flying by the seat of his pants. Who else could squeeze by the foot so easily, and that many times? It was absurd. He had slipped out of their grip, so many times, David had been positive that he could do it again.

Apparently not this time. This time, Lee had taken too big of a risk.

David looked up as the door to his dorm room rattled. It stopped momentarily, then shook violently. David smiled to himself, the sheer irony of being a Collage kid was not totally lost on him.

"Yo, Dave!" A muffled voice called, desperately. "It's stuck man! Help a brother out, man!"

David pushed himself from his seat on the bed, with a groan. He had been sitting too long, his muscles were stiff, and sore.

'Last night's mission was a bigger success for them than I thought...' He grimaced. 'Gotta watch for that.'

He squared his shoulders, and approached the door.

"Give me a minute Chris." He called to his roommate on the other side of the door. "Maybe next year we'll get a nicer room."

"Highly doubt that." His roomy grumbled from the other side of the door.

He placed a large hand on the knob and jiggled it, hopping for a small click sound to tell him it was unlocked. Instead, the whole brass knob fell into his hand, with a loud 'thunk' from the rotting wood of the poorly kept door.

He stared at it stupidly for a moment before tossing it on his bed. He'd call the dean about that later, when he had time.

"Chris, you might want to stand back!" He shouted, stepping back from the door.

"What are you about to do?" His roommate asked, in exasperation, as the sound of scuffling feet met David's ear.

"Open the door." He replied simply, turning his body sideways. He hunched into a running stance, as he had seen Lee do so many times. With a strong push on his heals, he sprinted towards the door. He hit it full force, with his shoulder making a loud 'thud, as he' took the complete impact of the rush.

The door flung out, wood slightly splintered, with a heavy dent where David had rammed it.

Chris, a tall, lanky man stood off to one side, a little shocked, and surprised. His big brown eyes were wide with the shock of what his crazy roommate had just done. He shook his head, running a hand through his blond hair.

"Wow. Just, wow. Man, you've got mad skills." He glanced at the door. "Uh... But next time, let's just use the window."

David picked himself up and shrugged. "Can you call the dean in your spare time?"

Chris jerked, and let out a groan. "Aww, man! I was supposed to go talk to him today!"

David rubbed his shoulder, which was probably bruising at that very instant. "Great, here's your chance." He turned to his bed.

Chris followed him in. "Aww, com'n man, your not _that_ cruel, are you? That guy _hates_ me!"

David picked up the disembodied door knob, and tossed to Chris, who fumbled to catch it.

"Yeah, I am." He smiled at his roommate's flabbergasted expression. "You'd better go on. I've got an English assignment."

Chris's disbelief faded, and he nodded sympathetically. "Ouch. I gotcha, Professor Henry's a tough guy. I'm gone."

With that, the college student trotted off, closing the door behind him.

David collapsed onto the end of his bed with a heavy sigh. He ran a hand through his thick, curly brown hair, a bad habit he'd picked up from living with Chris.

'I've got to rest...' he thought, looking at the floor. 'Or Tonight's gonna be a doozy.' He touched his shoulder, involuntary, and growled. The flesh was already becoming tender. That was a bad sign. He wouldn't be able rely on it now. He silently cursed himself for his foolish action. It was going to cost him.

David rose from his seat again, closing the curtains over the one window in the tiny room. The whole room went black, as he reached up, and turned the lights off from the chain.

'If I don't get some rest,' He chastised himself. 'I won't be any help to Lee...Or Maria...'

* * *

On top of a tall building, a figure stood, unobserved by the rest of the world, as her calm, calculating blue eyes traced the world below her feet. She wore black from head to foot, the only color standing out were her icy eyes, and the bright red foot emblem she wore with pride. Even her short hair matched, black as the night air around her.

Another black figure dropped behind her, silent as a cat. The woman gave no notice of the second figure, entirely arrayed in black, aside from a sharp order;

"Report." She commanded authority mixed in with an Asian accent.

"He's worn down." The masked figure stated. "He was never as fast as Lee."

"Does he have it?" She asked, sharply.

The ninja winced, and shook his head, despite the fact that the woman was not looking at him.

"No."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "Wait." She stated. "We will keep him tired, and sloppy. He will lead us straight to our...Prize... Now go."

"Yes Mistress." The ninja bowed, and faded into the dark night.

"Well..." She smiled slightly, tilting her head, as her eyes slipped closed. "We may need _their_ help..."

* * *

And that's short, but I like it best this way. Yes, yes, I know, turtles. Soon. Promise. Review. Please.


	3. Dateline

I'm back, and I live. (Managed to snag the Computer for a bit, and I promised to update when I could, so here goes.) Also, I have no idea when I'll get another lucky break. VBS this week, and after that... A very busy life.

* * *

**_Rated T fo_**r: Violence, possible Launguge, and what-not. (All in it's proper place.)

_Insperation_: Brothers, pain in the neck when they're around, pain in the heart when they're gone.

Thanks to: PainterofSorrows, and Pretender Fanatic. Thanks ya'll!

Comments to fellow TMNT fans: If I messed up personalities here, speak up about it. (I've been known to do wierd stuff, and not catch it.)

**Blame**: Rob, you totally corrupted me. Now I love Family Force Five, and stuck it in here with Mikey. Course, part of that goes to The Megalamoose... But you come first!

* * *

_'Hold on, Wait a minute, Put a little Love in it!_'

Two brown eyes fluttered open at the loud, deafening music.

_'Yah, Doctor, Doctor, I've got an emergency! It seems I'm head over heels, a case of L-O-V-E!_'

The blinked twice, trying to register the high volume sounds. Didn't his brother have a CD of Family Force Five? Wasn't that who was singing?

Leonardo sat up, and groaned. 'It's too early for this...' He thought, running a three-fingered hand over his green face.

He heaved himself off of the bed, and padded over to his door. No mistake, his youngest brother was at it again.

With a loud sigh, Leonardo pushed the giant metal door open. It was _way_ too early for this. He walked out, shutting the door behind him. With great effort from his sleepy and sore body, he walked over to the railing, which overlooked the living room.

True to his prediction, his younger brother was dancing next to the giant stereo system their third brother had worked on.

The system had been ampped for ultimate sound, of which, Mikey was taking full advantage.

Leo gave another groan, and jumped over the railing, landing gracefully on his two-toed feet. His younger brother spotted, him, and waved a big grin on his face. He had no idea just how bad he was in.

"Mikey!" The older brother shouted over the noise. "Turn that off!"

The younger brother frowned. "No way!" He shot back, and out of spite, he cranked it up.

_'I'm what they call a Love Addict!_'

Two more unhappy faces peered out from their respective rooms. The other two were quicker to come out.

The first seemed annoyed, but that was nothing. The second was irate.

"Mikey, if you don't turn that off," The second brother warned. "I'm going to trash your CD, and DVD collection!"

The only acknowledgement the second turtle received was his younger brother further turning up the already insanely loud music.

_'Cause I just can't get eno-_' the sound was abruptly cut off, making Mikey pause, mid-dance. He was standing awkwardly one leg, with the other bent behind him. Both arms were in the air cocked to the left.

"Hey!" He whined, turning around to check the stereo.

"Michelangelo!" His Sensei's whisper of a voice sounded off, irritated.

All heads turned to face their master. He stood one hand on his hip, the other holding up a plug. The youngest brother winced.

"Yes Sensei?" He asked quietly, shuffling his feet.

Wordlessly, Splinter pulled out a pair of headphones. "Use these, and let your brothers, and I sleep."

Mikey gave a small nod. "Yes sensei..."

Leo smiled in relief. Big families really weren't too bad, but sometimes, (Such as now) it was rather annoying. Although, his was stranger than most.

He couldn't help reminiscing as he plopped onto the couch lazily. A family of four turtles, and their rat father. It sounded like something from one of Mikey's comic books. Especially just how it all happened. Not that it mattered now. He shook of the strange negativistic.

"Thinki'n deep thoughts there, fearless leader?" Raphael asked, flopping next to him.

Leo turned to his brother, the second oldest of the bunch. He was the bulky one of the family, with broad, strong muscles, heavily defined under his dark green skin. His red ninja mask came around his face, with only two slits for his dark brown eyes.

"Just wondering where the foot are." He sighed, sitting up some. "It's like their waiting for something to happen or-"

"Ah, who cares about the foot?" Mikey interrupted, tossing the headphones aside. He was the youngest, with a light green skin. He was slimmer than the other four, although, he was faster, and had more stamina than the others. A bright orange bandanna was tied around his head, his big blue eyes standing out.

He picked up an old, tapped up remote, and hit a large red button on it. With a devilish grin, he added: "Maybe there'll be some CSI Re-runs!"

The TV monitor blinked into life, as three loud groans sounded off. Donny, the third brother could handle most SCI, but Re-runs were not something he enjoyed. In fact, the smaller, brownish colored turtle despised the re-runs he was subjected to on a regular basis. He sighed, and placed a three fingered hand over his face, hiding his soft brown eyes, and purple colored bandanna.

As the TV flicked on, and noise came from the speakers, the familiar face of Dateline news, Tom Brokave came on.

"It is a sad bit of news that makes tonight's headlines, with the disappearance of a young man, named Lee Connrad, local of Louisiana."

Leo's interest picked up at the opening sentence. "Hang up a sec Mike." He said, sitting up some.

The image on the screen flicked to a short woman in her late thirties, her bright green eyes red with tears, and most of her make-up washed away. Her short blond hair was fixed with the utmost care, Leo noted, as she began to pour out her heart-felt story. Next to her, was a man, close to her age, with brown hair that curled around his head neatly. A pair of glasses rested on his nose, highlighting his hazel eyes. He rested a comforting arm around his wife's shoulder

"My son," She choked. "Has been taken from our family...I-I-I can't think of anybody who'd try to hurt him-" She broke off in confused sobs.

The image disappeared, and a blurry image of a tape recorder went on, with a dialogue box.

"I spoke with Lee's Sisters, neither of whom wanted to be shown." Tom's voice stated, as a fuzzy sound signaled the start of the recording.

"Lee's other siblings declined any comment."

"How do you feel about your brother's disappearance?" A reporter's voice asked.

"How would you feel if someone you had lived with for years, had laughed with, eaten with, caused pandemonium with, played with, and loved, just up and went missing with no trace?!" The voice was a young female, with a tightened, and angry undertone.

"I just can't..." The voice cracked with despair. "I can't do this!"

Another crackle.

"It seems as if he was well-liked," Tom Brokave said, walking onto the screen. "Yet, no one knows where he went."

The screen changed to a young man with a shaved head, glancing nervously at a reporter sitting directly across from him.

"Dan, Lee's roommate at the barracks told us what information he could, and brought up a crucial piece of evidence."

"I was just talking to him, playing card like we like to do, when I asked him if he wanted to go catch a movie Friday."

"And what did he say to that?" The reporter asked, posing so as to appear contemplative.

"He told me he couldn't. Said he had something he had to do. So I asked about Saturday."

"And he told you something pretty disturbing, didn't he?" The reported drilled.

"He said if he came back after Friday night, it'd be something just short of a miracle." The roommate replied, casting his brown eyes to the floor. "I figured he had a date with some squalling woman or something like that..."

"You never thought that he might be in trouble." The reporter stated.

"No," The screen zoomed in on his face. "Never."

"You've got to be kidding me..." Mikey whined. "CSI is on, and we're watching dateline?"

The younger turtle was promptly hit on the shoulder by Raph, and had two pillows thrown at him by Donny.

"Zip it!" Raph growled, and turned his attention back to the TV. The orange Bandanna turtle crossed his arms, poked out his lower lip, and sat down roughly at the foot of the couch.

The story had turned to the police, who all stated it was the strangest thing that they had seen in years.

"Is there _any_ sort of clue to this case?" Tom asked a Police officer.

"We only have a rather cryptic clue to this case, right now." He replied. "Aside from the statement the roommate gave, we have a letter of sorts."

"And what does this letter entail?" The reporter asked, skillfully.

"Nothing I can release at this time, other than an image we think is a street gang sign." A picture of a large red foot came on screen.

The air around the brothers went cold. They stared at the TV in silent shock. It went off-screen, letting the image of the missing man's mother, and father with the reporter reappear.

"Do you know anything about that image?" He asked.

"No." The mother shook her head. "None of us do. We just want Lee home." Fresh tears made trails down her face.

The screen went back to Ann Curring, who stood behind a desk. "If you have any information on the disappearance of Lee Connrad, contact the authorities immediately."

Leo clicked the red button on the remote, causing the screen to blink black. The entire lair was cast into a dangerous stillness. Leo didn't move, going over all the details he had gleaned from the report.

"Well?" Mikey asked, looking up.

Donny shook his head. "Beats me. It's a good question though. What would the foot have to do with this?"

"Sounds like noth'n good if you ask me." Raph stated, his thick Brooklyn accent coming into play. "But I'll bet you anything that the shredder's got his nasty mug in it."

"Agreed." Leo nodded. "Which means this could get ugly."

The turtle brothers glanced from one to another. Mikey gave a wide grin. "Time for a night-time patrol?"

Leonardo heaved a sigh. With a heavy nod of his head, Leo consented. Michelangelo jumped and let out a wild hoot.

"I call Shot-Gun!"

* * *

Well, that's it. Turtles are in, Lee's been put on Dateline, Mikey's got Shot-Gun... My work is done.

(P.S.) I was too lazy to look up how to spell the Ann Curring, and Tom Brokave's last names. If I missspelled them, speak up please.


	4. Brothers

Here we go again... On a side note, I finally took the anonymous review thing off. Now you can leave unsigned reviews. (Only reason I didn't do this last Chapter, is because I didn't know how to get it to work, nor did I have the time to figure it out.)

* * *

**_Rated T for_**: Violence, some possible language. (Everything where it belongs, and in check.)

Thanks To: Pretender Fanatic, and PainterofSorrows.

_Inspiration_: Brothers. A pain in the neck when their around, and a pain in heart when their gone.

**Note to PainterofSorrows**: I lied. It's another short one. On the upside, I did Keep my other promise.

* * *

David moved swiftly and silently through the parking lot. Tonight's mission was a tough one, and he knew that the chances of success were slim to none. However, David also knew that if he failed here, all hope for Lee, Maria, and himself were lost. So he pressed onwards, slowly, with painstaking care.

The parking lot was to a local Wall-Mart store, now closed for "Repairs" caused by a strange incident. Supposedly, some drunk had driven into it with an eighteen wheeler. That was the craziest story they had come up with yet.

The "drunk driver" Had been a prisoner whose time had expired, and he was a convenient diversion. David held a silent fear that his older brother might meet the same fate, but it was dormant, and easily shaken off. Lee was fast when he needed it most, and clever. He could handle it. Not to mention, if he hadn't already been killed, they wouldn't do it for a long time. He had information.

Dangerous information, worth an entire underworld. David knew that, far better than anyone else. He didn't have to be told that his life was in danger, or that of his brothers. It was an obvious detail of his night life.

David also knew that whatever had gotten Lee could catch him with quicker ease, had it chosen to. Yet, it hadn't. It was a puzzling problem. Why wasn't he being watched? Did they know his identity? Or were they toying with him?

As he considered that, his mind turned to a bigger question which haunted him constantly. Why was he still opposing the Foot, when his greatest ally had been captured, and his only chance at taking down the organization gone? Was Lee planning on dragging _her_into this mess? Maybe Aiden? Or worse, had Lee gotten his hands on the big prize he had so eluded to numerous times? If so, why hadn't he elaborated, or put up safeguards?

David smiled at that. That was a foolish question. Lee never had a back-up plan. He made it all up as he went, and never thought twice about it. It was a good trait when battling the mafia, but this time, he hadn't thought it out far enough, and it had cost him.

David slipped up to the gardening section, and slipped through the gates with a practiced casualness. His dark eyes scanned the surrounding area. Time had made him paranoid. This pressure that had been sitting on him like a rock had caused his every sense to sharpen to an almost inhuman level.

Seeing, nor hearing nothing, David stalked through the shadows, and into the building. Tonight was going to be a long night... He would have to worry about Amy, Aiden, Maria, and Lee later.

* * *

Silence filled the dark space between Lee, and his captor. That wasn't so bad, in some ways. The darkness spared him from having to see the gruesome tools used in his long, grueling torture. That and the added silence brought him comfort from the constant stream of questions, and screaming agony.

However, in other ways it was worse than the torture he had thus endured. His worst enemy was standing, staring at him from out of the darkness. Somewhere near the door perhaps? Possible. Probable? He wasn't so sure.

Lee squinted into the blanket that protected his foe from his penetrating gaze. He wondered just what this man was doing here. He didn't usually get his own hands dirty. No, only when he had no other option. Lee smiled a little to himself.

That smile widened, as he heard a small shuffle, sounding a step. He closed his eyes, and laughed. It hurt to do so, but it was worthy effort, or so he felt. The cold, dark space echoed with his loud, somewhat pained laughter.

"And what, pray tell," A low, commanding voice asked. "Is it you find so amusing?" It was a smooth, graceful male voice, with a calm, lordly tone.

Lee opened his blue-grey eyes, to pierce the figure, half draped in darkness. His smile twitched slightly.

"Well, not just anyone gets an audience with The Shredder." He chuckled.

"The only reason I am here, is because you know where a personal belonging of mine is." The voice stated tone even.

"Is that so?" Lee asked, loosing his smile. "Then why isn't it that you've killed me, like Ivan?"

The voice hesitated. "You are... Still useful to my cause, should you choose to join me."

Lee saw the dark figure advance. "What say you?"

Lee's face twisted in disgust, as he launched a loud projectile of spit at the shadowed man.

"To hell with that plan." He snarled. "I'll die first."

The younger man smiled suddenly. "Besides... You've already taken my freedom from me... Nothing left to take besides my life..."

The shadow stepped back. "Is that so?"

A feeling of dread washed over Lee, sitting in his stomach like a lead weight.

"Then what about your younger siblings?"

Cold sweat beaded Lee's forehead. His heart rate increased, as it thrummed loudly in his ears.

"I thought as much..." The cool voice laughed. "Then I shall send for one."

* * *

That's it. Cliffhangers always make for good chapter endings. (Mwahahaha.)


	5. Missing siblings, and twins

Because today's a national holiday (And my birthday) I went ahead and updated.

* * *

**_Rated T for:_**Violence, and some language. Everything in it's place, and light.

_Inspiration:_ Brothers, Pain in the neck when their around and a pain in the heart when their gone.

**Thanks to:** Pretender Fanatic and PainterofSorrows. Glad to have people who enjoy what I do.

* * *

Maria stalked around her room restlessly. Under normal conditions this was her own place of quiet contemplation, and retreat from battles with her sister, brothers, or anybody, really.

And under normal circumstances, this was a place where she could just let her feelings flow into the air, into the open, letting her live in peace.

However, Maria's life had not been normal in the last few weeks. Two to be exact. Two entire weeks, and still no word. Her brother was still missing, and not one soul could give the police any sort of information, or her family for that matter.

Maria paced the floor thinking it all over, until it made her sick, and dizzy. She threw her hands into the air and plopped angrily onto her bed.

"I give up!" She screamed for the millionth time. "I can't think of a single person to call, a single person to ask, or a single person who might have a bleeding clue!" She huffed a heavy sigh.

'Two weeks.' She thought. 'Two weeks of no news, and almost no hope...'

The last two weeks had been filled with an electric kind of tension. One could almost feel all the heightened emotions, dancing through every room in the house. It was the sort of atmosphere that one could practically touch, and feel with the utmost ease.

Despite the wonderful, sunny weather outside, inside the Connrad home was gloom, anger, and most prominently, a spiteful sort of despair.

Maria and Ann had done little but bicker through the whole of the three days. Ann was a bad person to cross, but Maria wasn't to take insults, even when they weren't directly aimed at her.

She missed her brother. She worried over him. True, she wasn't extremely close to Lee, but she still loved him, and would try to exact her revenge upon anyone who tried to injure any of her family. Family was all she really had. She knew by experience that friends could stab you in the back, or choose to leave you over foolish things that didn't matter. Not family though. She felt the biting sting of having her firmest foundation shaken from under her feet. Too much more of this, and it might collapse. That was why she would give anything to save, or help those she loved.

'Wonder if he knows that...' Maria pondered. 'I guess he knows... I just wish that I could prove it...'

Maria looked out the window wistfully. She felt small and alone. With her brothers gone, (One in college, one moved away, and the other missing.) Her mother off SanFransico, working alongside the police, and her father working. That left the two girls by themselves for a few days, until their grandmother could make the nine hour trip to come look after them. That left one person. Ann. Maria was still infuriated with her younger sister's cruel and inflaming attitude. Ann too seemed to be unwilling to recant her actions, justifying them to herself.

Living in a big family (Or medium, compared to some) wasn't easy. Sometimes, Maria found it to be downright vexing.

A loud shrill ring from the telephone snapped the teen out her laments.

"I'VE GOT IT!" She called loudly, and with deft speed, she snatched up the phone.

"Hello?" She said cradling the cordless device to her ear. "Connrad residents."

"Am I speaking to Mr. or Mrs. Connrad?" A calm, reputable, male voice asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Maria stated, almost automatically. "Neither are in, may I take a message?"

"Yes, I am calling on behalf of the NYPD." The voice said. Maria's hopes rose.

Could they be bringing news of Lee? Could they have found him? That made perfect sense to her. Lee could've found his way to her other brother, David. David was going to college there, and the two were exceptionally close.

"Oh," She said, her confidence rising. "Have you found something?"

"Pardon?" The voice on the other end sounded rather confused.

"My brother," Maria prodded, completely forgoing any formality, or decorum. "Have you found something out about him?"

Silence met her from the other end for a moment.

"I'm sorry; did somebody already call you about the disappearance of David Connrad?"

* * *

Leonardo let out a loud, heavy sigh, as he and his brothers trudged into the lair. All of them were tired, and worn out. It had been a week of constant searching, but there was no sign of their quarry. Even their reporter friend couldn't come up with anything on recent Foot activity for them.

Michelangelo fell onto the couch unceremoniously, and let out a loud groan, echoing his brother's softer lament of failure. Donatello walked into the kitchen, his bare two-toed feet scuffling on the floor. Raphael gave a low growl, as he marched into the training room. Moments later, the loud, rythematic sounds of his fists hitting the punching bag filled the air.

Leo drug his feet towards his room, an automatic movement. His mind was running at a sluggish pace as he pushed open the heavy metal door.

"Leonardo..." The eldest turtle paused at his sensei's voice. He turned to face the aged rat.

He stood tall, and proud, despite his short stature. His fur was a soft brown, hidden by his long maroon robe.

"I know that you are disappointed by your fruitless search, my son..." The rat said his voice akin to a loud whisper. He placed a paw-like hand on Leonardo's shoulder. "Yet hope remains, in a place you have yet to look."

Leo frowned, his brow creased in confusion, and frustration. "Where would you have me look Master Splinter?" He asked, hiding all traces of weariness.

Splinter closed his eyes, hiding the wise brown irises from sight. He huffed a small sigh of his own brand. "That, my son, is unclear to me."

Leo turned his head to the side, his frustration increasing. Even his sensei didn't have a good answer. That was a bit of a blow. True, his sensei's wisdom had faltered before, but those times were few, and far in between. He had been hoping that Splinter would have been able to give him an answer, but...

Leonardo's thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the lair's telephone. Leo glanced at his sensei for a moment, and then made a bee-line for the kitchen where the phone sat attached to the wall. It had been an old payphone that had malfunctioned. The city probably decided that it was cheaper to replace the old one, than to fix it, and tossed this one away. Donny had fixed it up into a fine piece of machinery that worked as their own private line.

The genius was now on the phone, cradling it with his shoulder, as he wrote something down with a pen.

"Uh-huh, Thanks April. Leo's gonna love this." He said, as the other brothers crowded around. "Yeah, I will. April, we're always caref-" He stopped, listening to the woman's voice on the other end.

"I guess we can take him along for the ride. Let me ask the guys." He pushed the phone away from his mouth, and looked up at his brothers. "April wants us to take Casey with us."

Leonardo gave quick nod of consent, eager to know what had been found. Donny gave small smile, and turned back to the phone. "Leo says it's fine. Uh-huh. Promise. Don't worry April, we'll be fine. Okay. Thanks again. Bye."

The purple clad turtle hung the phone back up, and turned to his brothers again.

"Good news and bad." He announced. "April got wind of a NYPD Missing person's report."

"So what Brainiac?" Raph growled, crossing his arms in irritation. "The missing guy's from the south. Mississippi?"

"Louisiana." Leo corrected. "But the same scenario. He wouldn't have missing persons report in New York."

Don shook his head. "That's just it. His younger brother just went missing. The report's on a missing college student, David Connrad."

* * *

"So what's the scoop Sis?" The question came from a tall young man, hunched over in a chair. His features were mostly cast in shadow, as the only light in the small computer lab came from the screen of said computer. In the eerie light, one could just make out his forcibly calm expression, and wide, worried brown eyes. His skin took a sickly pale hue in the dim lighting, adding a ghostly tint to his jet black hair. He looked to be about nineteen, or twenty.

His attentions were turned to another figure; he sat in a computer chair, in front of the machine. Her back was straight, and good posture, her calculating brown eyes running over the data on-screen. Her long jet black hair came down to her shoulders, wavy and wild. Her skin looked just as pallid as the man who had spoken, giving her the appearance of an unearthly creature. Her sister, Maria often commented that if she didn't get some sun, she'd scare people into believing she was a banshee. It didn't take a DNA test to tell that the two were twins, possibly identical.

She bit her pale lip. "Not good." She muttered. "Not good at all..."

With a few taps on the keyboard, and mouse clicks, she brought up more coded information. With a muttered curse, she quickly scanned the nonsense lettering, and numbering.

"It's worse than we thought..." She stated, in response to her brother's query. "David's on the move, or been caught, No clue on Lee's holding cell. Their keeping that info tighter than the CIA's mutation project."

"So?" The brother gave a shrug. "You got through that easy enough. Why not here?"

The young woman gave a heavy sigh. "That information existed to steal, this doesn't. Besides, that was the hardest network I've ever hacked, and you know it." She rubbed her temple.

"Sorry." He huffed. "Look, Amy, I'm not trying to stress you, but we need to find out what Lee managed to get his hands on, and find it."

Amy glanced at her twin brother. "Aiden, if I had even a glimmer of an idea as to what, and where, I'd tell you. But there is no data on it. That's why Lee went in, remember?"

Aiden nodded his head slowly. "I know. It's just...Well, it's getting worse." He heisted his head in his hands. "Before you know it, they'll try to commission Rei rei."

Amy caught the note of helplessness within his voice. They were twins after all, it was natural for her to hear his fears, and understand them better than her own, and vise versa.

She exhaled slowly. "Aiden," She murmured gently. "I know. Believe me, I do. Maria is still young, and innocent. We vowed to keep her, and Anne, and mom safe. And we will." She smiled, cupping a hand around her brother's cheek.

"But we're going to have to think of something different."

* * *

The plot thickens... and I turn another year older. Huh. Review.


	6. Enter Oroku Saki, the two faced man

So Here I go again. Just tossing some more up, partly cause I've been working on this for so long, I _neeeeeeeed_to post it.(Hence, it's longer than usual.) I'm getting kinda ahead of myself here. And partly for Corey. How's Baraz?(Or however you spell his name. No offense to him.)

I gotta say I'm getting excited about this story. (That's good right?) I honestly like working on this, and hogging the computer for four hous so I can work on it. Dunno if anyone else is having as much fun with this as I am, but I do hope that y'all are enjoying it. (Hard to tell sometimes. Not many people review. Doesn't have to be long, or pretty, ya'know.)

Ah well. It's gotten to be a ton of fun for me. Hope Corey, that you're having a blast with this. Sorry things aren't going too well on your end. (It could be worse... How, I don't know, but it could be.) Kudos to anyone who's read this far. I appreciate it.

* * *

_**Rated T for:**_Violence, and language. That's part of realism. No worries, every thing's in it's place, with no extreme cuss-offs. Promise.

_Inspiration:_ Brother, pain in the neck when their around, pain in the heart when their gone.

**Thanks to:**Pretender Fanatic and PainterofSorrows.Y'all make this fun for me to post. Thanks guys.

* * *

Maria's blood went cold. Her body tensed, slowly becoming numb. Her face was ashen, a pallid color. She tried to speak, but the words would not form on her tongue. Her lungs heaved, inhaling rapidly. Her knees locked.

"Ma'am?" The voice on the other end called. "Ma'am, are-are you alright?"

She felt her chest tighten in agony. She moved her leg.

"Hello?"

Her knees buckled out from under her, wobbling her foreword. The phone crashed to the floor, as Maria Connrad's body hit the floor. The color further left her face, as she let out a low wail of pain.

"Hello!?" The phone buzzed in her hands, though she barely heard it. Her green eyes closed, forming large salty tears.

"I think she fainted!" The phone shouted distantly.

'Fainted?' Maria thought, her breath coming in slow, ragged movements. 'No, I've never fainted in my life.'

She looked up at the ceiling in a daze of anguish, and confusion. What was happening? First Lee, now David... Who next? The thought chilled her, body and soul. Numbly, she fingered the rough carpet flooring, trying to clear the thick fog in her head.

Maria lay there, just willing herself to throw out any superstitious fears that she, or her older brother or sister, Aiden, (A year younger than David, and the youngest brother.) and Amy were next. Her entire world was beginning to fall to pieces all around her. She looked around her room stupidly, at all the pictures Aiden and Amy had taken for her before they had left. Pictures of their big, crazy family. Pictures that created a mosaic of the brothers, and sisters together in harmony. Now, it had been ripped away from her.

Maria felt something sharp prick her finger. It was an odd sensation, as she felt far off, and the prick barley affected her. Lifting her finger to look at it, she saw a small trickle of crimson liquid. Blood.

Her green eyes stared at it for a moment. Then the green irises widened. Color returned to her face. She let out a loud gasp.

Her body snapped up into a sitting position, as she brought much needed air into her lungs.

"Ma'am, are you there!? Do you need an ambulance!?" The phone screeched. Maria snatched it up again.

"No, no." She assured the man on the other end. "I'm sorry, I-I-" She paused, taking a deep, shaky breath. "I'm okay..."

"Alright..." The voice on the other end sounded relieved. "Can you pass on the message for me? Have his parents call the department. Do you need the number?"

Maria took the information, sitting on her bed to keep from crashing back onto the floor. It scared her. The thought that she had been so ripped apart by this whole mess...

Maria laid her head against the pillows, silently weeping in her heart. Her brothers... Missing. Could her favorite twin siblings be next?

She had four older brothers, and sister, Lee, David, and then her twin siblings, Amy, and Aiden. That left her, and Anne, the youngest two, here at home.

The twins had gone off to seek their own fortunes, instead of going to college like David, or going into the military.

Aiden was currently a Freelance photographer for a local news paper, and Amy was busy putting her skills to work for a small office. That was all she really knew about their lives at current. Even though Maria and Amy were close, Amy always seemed to push her aside from her day-to-day life, even when they spoke on the phone.

Maria had tried to convince herself that it was just her older sister's way of trying to say she was out on her own now. Now, however, she wasn't so sure. Nothing seemed to make sense to her anymore. Not even her sibling's actions added up. If she didn't know them, who did she know?

There was a knock on her door. Maria glanced up.

"Rei, Rei?" Anne's voice floated in from the other side. "Rei, Rei, who was that?"

Maria hefted a small sigh. She wasn't ready. Unready to tell what she knew about her second oldest brother's disappearance.

"Wrong Number." She lied. No. Now wasn't the time to mention it.

"Hm." Her younger sister grunted. "Whatever." Small footsteps, sound outside the hall, as the younger sister padded away.

There it was again. That strong, painful distention between sisters. When was it to end?

Maria turned over onto her stomach twirling the hair from her pigtails around her finger.

'What am I going to do?' She wondered helplessly. She put a hand to her eyes, wiping away the moisture that had began to form around her green eyes. 'It seems as if there's nothing I can do.'

She glanced up at the ceiling, turning back over onto her back. 'Worse yet, I don't even know what's going on, so if there was something for me to do, I wouldn't know about it.'

Maria silently wondered if there was some sort of hint she could find for the police, or herself.

'But no.' She thought dejectedly. 'I've been over this a million times. I've given every name, and habit of Lee's I could think of.'

She sat up abruptly. "Gragh!" She snarled. "What's a girl to do!?"

As if to answer her tormented question, the phone rang again. Maria decided not to pick it up. Anne would try to get it now.

"Rei, Rei!" Her sister shouted from somewhere down the hall. "I'm in the bathroom, can you get it!?"

Maria grumbled silently, and snatched up the phone again.

"Hello?" She asked gruffly. "Connrad residents."

"Is this Maria Connrad?"

Maria blinked. Not only did she not recognize the voice on the other end, but she couldn't think of one reason someone would be asking for her. Dateline and all other reporters had been told to that she was not going to comment. She didn't think she had anything in at the library. So who was on the phone, asking for her?

"Yes?" She asked quietly. "Can I help you?"

"I'm hoping we can help each other." The cool, lordly voice replied. "I have some information on your brother's whereabouts."

Maria's heart stopped. Her eyes widened.

"You do!?" She whispered.

"Yes." The voice chuckled. "But I want something from you in return..."

* * *

"Any movement?" Amy barked. Aiden winced. Sometimes his twin could be a dictator. She was adamant about him keeping a strict, careful watch. It was starting to get to him.

"For the thousandth time," He sighed, rubbing his sore temple. "No. I'll let you know as soon as something comes along."

Amy sniffed, and turned back to her computer. The two were taking their time, reading through a list of codes, waiting for their enemies make a transmission. Once they did, it was over.

Aiden found it hard to stare at the screen of data rolling by, and not fall asleep, or grow dizzy. It reminded him vaguely of the days when he, David and Lee would just hang out, and watch the Matrix. Ah, the good old days. Sadly they were long past, and too far behind them all. Even then Lee and David had been battling this threat. Even then they were both keeping all that they knew to themselves. It was simply the way it had to be. Aiden knew it.

His eyes caught a glimmer in the changing code. Snapping out of his reverie, he jumped. "Amy, Transmission, transmission!"

Amy leapt from her chair, and with cat-like speed, snatched up the headphones. Her brown eyes went over the screen.

"Good connection." She muttered, typing commands into the computer. "Good. Server... God."

Aiden looked at his twin. "What?"

"It's him." She snarled. With lightning speed, she typed in another set of commands. "Oh God save us all..."

"What Amy, what!?" Aiden exclaimed, waving his arms. "Spill it!"

Amy turned to face her brother, fear, and anger written plainly across her face. "He's contacted Rei, Rei."

Aiden's lips formed a tight line. "Already? It's too soon! She's just a kid!"

Amy shook her head. "I know. But so were we."

"But Lee and David were there! This weasel's-" He began to protest. He stopped short at Amy's glare.

"It's tradition. We can't interfere." She sighed. "The others stood by to watch, but they didn't interfere."

Aiden stared at his sister, eyes wide, and mouth agape. "Amy, you can't be serious." He whispered. "She's too young. She's not ready for this."

"Nor were we. She'll learn..." The girl lamented.

"No!" Aiden snarled. "There's no way! We can't bring Rei, Rei into this war!"

Amy looked up at him.

"When we agreed to fight these people, we swore to keep Maria and Anne out of this. We agreed to a pact that held us to protect those who have no chance against these people. Rei, Rei's one of them, and you know it. She still thinks the world is a nice place to live in."

Amy sighed. "Aiden let it go. She's got to do it on her own. We had to..."

"That's just what I'm saying!" He argued. "We had to, but she shouldn't have to!"

The female twin walked to the large window, staring out. "I hate fighting them." She admitted out loud. "I may pretend to enjoy the thrill of it, but I don't. None of us do. But..."

She turned an intent gaze onto her brother. "It's our family's curse to fight the Foot, and undo all the wrong our parents caused."

Aiden looked at the floor in guilt, as Amy continued. "We were the ones chosen to know, and fight. Even though we suffer for it, it's our duty."

Amy turned back to the window. "And if Maria's been chosen to help in the fight, then we can't try to keep it from her. Especially not now..."

Aiden growled, as he gritted his teeth. "Then what? We just let innocence die?"

"No..." Amy closed her eyes. "We let one innocent die, so countless others may live on in blissful ignorance."

* * *

Maria couldn't believe what she was doing. It was by far, the stupidest thing she could think of doing. Here she was, sneaking out late at night, in her darkest clothes, and taking her mother's van to meet some stranger who was claiming to have a clue to her brother's whereabouts. Not to mention, she only had a permit, instead of her license, and was driving to an abandoned fair ground.

'It's like a horror movie or something.' She thought, shivering, as she opened the door to the van. 'Because the main character isn't thinking, they fall into a trap... Ah well, Anne always told me I needed to do something stupid...'

Still, Maria felt chilled to the bone. She turned the heater on, only to find it didn't help. She pulled out of the driveway, and out onto the road.

Maria's thought's turned to the strange things that were spinning around her. Brothers missing, Weird people calling her out in the middle of the night. What was going on?

It was all she could do to keep her focus on the road, and where she was going. She was surprised when she reached her destination in what felt like minutes. Parking, on the gravel, and locking the vehicle tight, she made her way to the Ferris wheel where she was told to meet him.

Maria stood in plain sight, waiting. She filled her spare time in with wondering who she would see.

"Maria Connrad, I presume?" She glanced up to see the man who had summoned her here. He was a tall man, with authority in his stance. His voice was calm, cool. The undertone held power, and Maria could feel its effects work on her. She stood a little straighter, and held her head up a little more. He wore a kimono, something that was not lost on Maria's knowledge of the world. His cold blue eyes searched her for a moment. His dark hair fell just to his neck, contrasting his pale skin.

'Like a Vampire...' Maria thought distantly.

"Yes sir?" She replied. "You were the one who called me?"

He smiled. Maria noticed the way his lips twitched into a small expression of amusement. It was similar to a cat, tricking the mouse to come eat with him.

"It was I." He tilted his head slightly. "I know the whereabouts of Lee Connrad... However..." He trailed off artfully. "I need your assistance to help him."

Maria felt her heart stop. "What?" How could she help Lee? How? She knew that she owned very little skills of her own.

The man shook his head, trying to appear apologetic. "You're brother is a prisoner of a corrupt organization."

At her confused expression, he went on. "The CIA is holding your brother over a national security threat; they think is linked to him... I know he's innocent."

The man took a step forward. "You see, I know Lee well enough to know that he had nothing to do with it. However, he managed to hit one of the higher-ups's sore spot. That's why their delaying the investigation."

Maria placed her hands behind her back. "And you want me to help? I mean, how?"

He smiled. "We both know that occasionally if you want to do the right thing, with corrupt officials, you have to bend the rules to gain evidence."

He let his smile slip away, and grew solemn. "Please, allow me to train you in the art of the ninja. When you learn all I can teach you, you will be able to clear your brother's name."

Maria blinked. This just seemed so... far-fetched. "You want me, to fight the CIA? That's crazy!"

"I thought you might feel that way." He stated, pulling out a small card. He extended his arm out to her, and offered the card. She looked at the gesture hesitantly, then carefully took the plastic slip from his grip.

She examined it in the poor lighting for a moment. A small square held a picture of Lee, along with information on him, and other coding she didn't understand. She stared blankly at the bold letters proclaiming 'CIA' upon the card.

"That's his ID card." The man explained. "Now do you see?"

'Not really..." She thought to herself. 'But whatever.'

"I think so..." Maria murmured. "But I-" She laughed suddenly. "Well, I don't even know who I'm talking to!"

The tall dark haired man smiled. "Forgive me, I forgot my manners. I am Oroku Saki."

Maria thought it over momentarily. Could this be the answer she was seeking? Somewhere, deep in her innermost being, her gut told her something she had forgotten.

"Oroku...Saki?" She muttered. " Oroku and Saki, one man, two faces. Oroku The ruthless, and Saki, The Suave."

Oroku Saki's, calm, pleasant demeanor faltered. "Pardon?"

She looked him in the eyes. "I don't trust people like you!" She snarled, making a dash for her van. She was intercepted by a figure clad in black, as dark as the night itself. The only color was a large, red foot...

Maria cursed under her breath, as she threw a small box to the gut. Her opponent responded in kind with a much harder blow. The teen fell to her knees, gasping in pain.

"That," Saki stated, walking up to where the girl sat, crumpled. "Was a foolish move, my young friend."

Maria growled between her teeth. "Bastard."

The man didn't reply to this, he merely began a walk off. "Load her in the car. I have other things that need my attention." He began to walk off, then paused. "Keep her in good condition."

Once his boss was out of sight, the black ninja pulled the suffering Maria to her feet. "Come along now..." He hissed in her ear. "We've got a looong-"

He was cut off abruptly by a loud cracking sound. He fell to the ground, next to Maria, who sat there, shaking from the sickening crack which continued to echo in her ears.

"Get going, Rei, Rei!" Someone hissed instantly, pulling her to her feet. She turned to face her rescuer. Her brother.

"Aiden!" She exclaimed in a whisper. There stood her friendliest brother, Aiden Connrad. His brown eyes sparked with an intense glow. His face was pale, and beaded with sweat. She had no doubt, as his chest heaved in adrenaline laced panic, that he knew more about this than she.

"Get oughta here!" He snarled, shoving her towards the van. "Go, Rei, Rei! Go!"

"But-"

"No buts!" He argued. "Get going, and don't go home! He'll find you there!"

Maria glanced around, suddenly panicked. "What!? Where then?!"

"Anywhere!" He shouted back. "Just don't stop running! Don't ever stop Running!"

Now Maria understood why he was trying shove her away. The Fairgrounds came to life, with dark ninja crawling towards them like ants.

"Go!"

She needed no more urging. She flew to the van, unlocking it, and backing out in perfect time. Soon she was flying down the abandoned road at record speeds. She pressed through every back road just as quickly as she could, not stopping for anything, and never, not once, to look back.

* * *

Maria sat on the side of the road, thinking it all over. It made no sense at all.

'Here I go again!' She thought angrily. 'Thinking to myself about how it doesn't make sense! It's getting me nowhere!'

Wiping a stray strand of hair out of the way, she tried to muse things out in a different light. Her brother's stories were true.

She remembered how they told her about the terrible Oroku Saki, the two faced man, or the foot with many toes, or the cursed children of the royals, or the Paladins of the apple tree, or even the story of the girl trapped in time.

"Their real..." She laughed. "Oh God, their real!" Tears streamed down her face. She held a fistful of hair as she sobbed. " I don't believe this! What's happening!?" She shrieked for the green fields to hear. "What am I running from!?"

The echo came back to her, almost laughing at her, taunting her with the pitiful ignorance she possessed.

With a heavy heart she sat back down on the asphalt. She let her green eyes trace the creases in her dark blue jeans, as she tried to just clear herself of all of her thoughts. It wasn't working well at all.

Questions came in torrents of mind-numbing pain. What was she running from? Why was she running from it? What was her next move? How long could she run? Where should she run to? What should she shy away from? Where were Lee, and David really? What was Saki up to in all of this? Should she seek after the other stories? What was her next move? What about Amy? Or Aiden? Would he be alright? Had he been captured? Should she try to rescue him?

They buzzed, and whirled, and snarled, and snapped inside of her head, driving her mad. It was too much. She needed to vent her frustrations, and fears, and the rest of her emotions out somehow. She cried. Wet, salt tears stained her face, and dribbled down to the ground. She sobbed there for an hour, before she at last stopped crying. Yet then, here she was, alone.

Maria Connrad sat on the side of the road, looking dully out at the lush, rolling green fields, wondering what life had in store for her now.

* * *

Leonardo slipped into the records office skillfully, bringing no attention to himself as he did so. He slinked through the shadows, working his way to the master computer Donatello had specified. It looked no different than the others, yet it was special. This one held all the data they sought.

Hence, Leo was in such close courters to humans. He waited patiently for the distraction he was promised. The plan was a flawless piece of ingenuity.

There! A loud tapping sound on the window. The few humans hanging around glanced up from their work. A long pause, then three more loud tapping sounds. People were getting out of their chairs to take a look at that that sound was. Now! This was Leo's chance! He rushed to the master computer. Placing a small paperweight nest to the computer, he rushed of into the shadows. Success. The first major on in the last six months.

* * *

"So what did we get?" Leo asked his brother.

Don held up a hand to silence him, while he typed furiously on his home-made laptop. "Give me a sec." He requested. "This isn't my field of expertise you know. I work more in Cervo mechanics, than computerized data, and hacking."

"Yeah, well your the best qualified out of all of us here, ya Brainiac." Raph sighed. "So could you speed it up a hair?"

The purple clad turtle didn't reply, instead, he turned his focus solely to his noisy key clicking.

Thirty full minutes passed of this noise, as Leo meditated. Raph sat off to the the side, talking with a man, in mid-twenties. The man was fairly well-muscled, with long, messy black hair, laughing at some joke Raph was telling. Mikey sat in a corner, reading his comic books for the thousandth time. All waited in anticipation.

"Got it!" Don chirped suddenly. Heads shot up, and feet scuffled to see the reports.

"They've got a killer security system." Donny smiled. "But it's not the best I've seen. The Foot's computers are more complex than this one."

Leo cleared his throat.

"Right." Donny smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. The reports are pretty vague. Just says his Roommate kept calling him on his cell, and got a disconnected number message, and no word from any of his other friends, for about two days, so he called police. The investigation's only managed to compile nonsense. He didn't say anything about leaving, or staying to anybody, so it could be a suicide, kidnapping, or anything right about now. Another Foot Symbol was found, along with another crest, in note found crumpled under his bed. Says it was confiscated by the-" The turtle paused in surprise. "By the CIA!"

Silence settled in, as the brothers pondered this. This was bound to bring trouble. What were the brother's connection to the Foot? And why was the CIA involved?

"Meaning?" The human asked, breaking the thoughts of his companions.

"That means," Leo sighed, rubbing his temple in agitation. "Things have just gotten more complicated."

* * *

That's it. Please review! It doesn't have to be long or pretty, just tell me if you like it, or see where I could improve. I'd be grateful.


	7. Of sisters, Foes, and New York

Okay, I'm back. One more trip before I'm home for the summer. So another Update, and one of Corey's beloved lengthy ones. Yeah, yeah.

* * *

**_Rated T for_**: Violence, Language, and psychotic people

_Inspiration_: Brothers, pain in the neck when their around, and a pain in the heart when their gone.

**Thanks to**: PainterofSorrows, Storm Princess, and Pretender Fanatic. I enjoy writing this because of you all who enjoy reading it. Thanks y'all.

* * *

Amy stared out the window, emotionlessly. Her face was pale, and her lips frozen in a thin, expressionless line. Her brown eyes locked on the outside world of sun, trees, and flowers, as they danced in the breeze. She hated them. Nature was the most despicable thing that existed now. Not even the Foot could rival the loathing Amy felt for that outside world. She looked toward the sky. The worst part of it, as far as she was concerned.

Yet Amy's mind wasn't on her hatred for the natural world outside, but of the brother, of whom she had lost.

"Aiden..." She murmured. "Why?"

Tears stained her cheek. Her twin brother was gone, and she had no hope. None at all. All hope had been captured by the enemy, along with her brother. As she collapsed into a chair, she wondered what she was doing here.

She no longer had Aiden's loving support to help get her through this cursed war, Lee was gone, and now, even David had disappeared. Part of her knew she ought to search for Maria, and probably show her the ropes, but she didn't want to. She had no zap, or will-power with which to do it with.

Bitterness welled up. Her twin had abandoned her for her younger sister. A girl of only fifteen. No knowledge, experience, and absolutely no skill at all. She had only instinct and not much of that. She was no warrior, just a childish Tomboy.

Anger flashed through her mind. Maria. Aiden had seen something that couldn't possibly exist in her. Maria had been a part of The Foot's plan all along. Lure out Aiden, and herself using their younger sister, yes, Amy understood now. Maria wasn't one of them. She was a spineless coward... A flunky of the Foot...

"Little sister..." Amy snarled. "I'm going to take you down..."

* * *

Maria drove through as many back roads as she could. Truth be told, she hadn't a clue as to where she was now, or where she was headed, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. She couldn't stop for directions, lest she called the attention of the cops at her unlicensed driving. Her mother hated GPS's so there wasn't one equipped in the vehicle, and Maria was having no luck with reading any of the maps, so lost she was, and, for now anyway, lost she was to remain.

When at last she came upon a Gas station, she perked up. She knew her mother kept some emergency cash stashed away in the car, along with a credit card, so some munchies and gas were accessible. She let out an audible sigh.

"Oh thank God." She laughed. "I'm saved."

Maria made a sharp turn of the wheel, and pulled up to the pump. As she got out, she noticed a grungy looking guy filling up his motorcycle. He gave her a small nod. She automatically returned the gesture, and pulled out the credit card. As she filled the van up, she quietly wondered what she was going to do next. Maybe they had maps inside she could use.

After filling up, she went inside, and filled up a basket with some chips, drinks, and junk food. The cashier glanced at the food, then back up at Maria.

"Hungry?" He asked jokingly.

"Starved." She nodded. "Couldn't find a restaurant..." She added lamely.

"There's a McDonalds just up the road." He suggested.

"Really?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, just keep going till you come to a four way stop, then take a left. That'll lead you back to the main road, and there's the McDonalds. You can't miss it."

Maria paid the cashier, said her thanks, and then drove off, looking forward to a warm meal, in a familiar setting.

* * *

As Maria munched on burger, and some French fries, her mind went back over the child-hood stories her brothers used to tell her to amuse her. The first one that came to mind was the story of the terrible Oroku Saki, the two faced man. It was a simple tale, really.

Once there was a man with two faces, one named Oroku the Ruthless, and the other Saki the Suave. Both were evil, but different. Saki was persuasive, and pleasant. Oroku was hard, and dangerous, a bad person to cross. But the two were one, so it took four paladins to defeat him...

'The four Paladins!' She remembered that story too. They were the enemies of the two faced man, and powerful knights.

'If Oroku Saki is real...' Maria thought sipping her Dr Pepper. 'Than the Paladins _must_ be real...'

Hope reared it's head for the first time since Lee's disappearance. She only had to find the Paladins, and then, she could rescue Aiden, and Find Lee, and David.

A small smile slipped onto Maria's face. She had a plan now, and even tools to help her. Her stories...

The smile slipped away, as she realized; 'I don't know where to look...' The jolting shock of this realization. It hurt.

She sighed, and tried to think it out. 'Kay, four paladins... The story said they lived in an Apple Tree near to Oroku Saki, and...'

Maria couldn't quite remember the rest. All she could remember was having wished (Rather childishly) that she could have met them, especially the eldest. He had always sounded so brave. She glanced down at her table where the food had once been. She had eaten it, and not even noticed.

Getting up, and disposing of her trash, she walked up to order something else to go. Maybe a cookie of a Mcflurry. She made her order, as she puzzled over her predicament.

"Here's your Mcflurry Ma'am." The cashier said, bringing her out of her puzzlement.

"Thank you." Maria smiled, then paused. "Can I ask you a stupid question?"

The woman shrugged. "I guess..."

"If I were to ask you where I could find an apple, or an apple tree, what's the first thought that comes to your mind?" She asked sheepishly.

The woman, not but twenty with wild hair, and a sarcastic smile, gave Maria a grin. "New York."

Maria blinked. "What?"

"The Big Apple, Ya'know." She replied. "That's my first thought. Now if you were looking for an apple, I'd tell you to buy one of our apple dippers."

'That's it!' Maria smiled. "I'll skip that. Thanks." She walked out, and hopped into her van. She now had a destination. New York City.

* * *

Lee looked up, as door opened noisily. He squinted to see who was coming. If it was that giant again, he was in for more pain filled torture. He couldn't stand torture. It made him sick to the stomach with rage. Cowards who didn't have the guts or tools to find what he had stolen.

However it was his fortune that the slim figure of Oroku Saki stalked into the room. He put up a brave grin.

"Howdy." He greeted his enemy.

Oroku Saki was less friendly. He grabbed the younger man by the scruff of his worn shirt, and pulled him up to his face.

"How did she know my name?!" He barked. "What have you taught her!?"

Lee blinked. 'She? Oh God, he hasn't-'

"Tell me what she knows, or your brother is going to suffer from your silence!" Saki shouted, his low pitched angry voice echoing from off the walls.

"Maria?" Lee asked slowly, his voice cracking. "You sick bastard..." He would have shouted but he was weakening. No matter how he denied it, he was weakening.

"What. Does. She. Know?" He said forcefully, hissing through his teeth,

Lee shrugged. "It's not what she knows that you should be worried about, Oroku the Ruthless..." The younger man smiled, as if he knew just how ruffled Saki's feathers were.

In a rage, Oroku Saki thrust his skull into the ground. A sickening crack resounded off the walls, as the man turned and left Lee lying on the ground. Crimson blood pooled beneath Lee's head, as the man struggled to breath. His vision swam. His thoughts ran in confusion, as he moaned.

'Maria...' He thought in desperation. 'Find them...And for all our sakes... Find them fas-' He broke off into Unconsciousness.

* * *

Cliffhanger? Review please! (Don't have to leave your penname, just tell me what you think. Like it, dislike it? TELL ME! _Pleaes?)_


	8. NYC, Thy name is Maria

Hey, why not? I'll toss another one up here. (Because I'm a little _too _far at this point.)

* * *

**_Rate T for:_**Language, Violence, and realism. Realism keeps it all in check.

_Inspiration:_Brother. Pain in the neck when their around(Or on-line) and a pain in the heart when their gone.

**Thanks to:** Pretender Fanatic, Storm Princess, and of course, PainterofSorrows.

* * *

If anyone had ever asked David what he thought of his life, he would have replied it wasn't what he had asked for, but it was what he was given. A life on the run, and in hiding.

It wasn't by choice he ran. No, if he had his way, he'd take the Foot down on his own. Then again that was an impossible task; even the CIA couldn't handle it. How he hoped to, well, that was a big question.

As David walked down the busy streets of New York, he wondered about his siblings. He had vanished in the hopes that the Foot would try to locate him, and carelessly drop information. Nothing doing so far, but David held hope. This would force them to make a move sooner, or later. It was for Amy, Aiden, and his loved ones back home he worried for. They had no idea what he was fighting so that they could live in peace. He and Lee both.

David paused at one of the local coffee shops for a snack, as he thought it all over, just as he had countless times before.

Sometimes it scared him to think that his entire family was being watched, all because of their curse. The one that his mother had borne for years. The one she had unwittingly passed onto them, her eldest children.

David never blamed her for that. It never seemed to him like she had done it on purposes. To Lee though, it was handed first. It had been hard on him as the eldest. He often fought with his siblings, part of a jealousy thing, David assumed. He too had felt envious of his younger sibling's freedom, and ignorant bliss. He had fallen into a quiet, anti-social person, a thing that was rather unlike him.

Once it was obvious to the two eldest that they were in the same boat, things had improved. David relaxed, and learned how to play past all his secrets. Lee reconciled with the others, and began to find ways to aggravate the Foot without endangering them.

It had been well thought out, as they stood apart, to confuse the CIA, and to fight the Foot.

Then... Somebody got dirty. Oroku Saki tried to recruit Amy, and Aiden. Neither David nor Lee had been expecting that. They managed to help the twins out, and taught the two-faced man that hey were not to be taken lightly. After that Amy and Aiden vaguely knew what was going on, but were kept out of the loop for their own protection. Still, David knew that if he asked them to help, they'd jump to help in the effort against the Foot.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and grimaced. In only a few short hours he would be off, searching for clues as to Lee's great prize.

A hand clasped him on the back, causing his back to stiffen. He glanced around to see Christopher Brown staring back at him. His blue eyes weren't laughing in jest, and his expression wasn't the usual pleasant smile. It was hard, and serious.

"David..." He stated his voice calm. "We both know what I'm doing here."

David sighed. He had been defeated. "You've come to arrest me?"

Chris nodded. "That's the way it is."

"No dignity for my mother's sake?" David asked.

"So long as you come with me, you'll be spared from any scene, or indignity." The blond man replied.

David laughed ruefully. "Yeah. No indignity..." He stood up. "Whatever you say."

With that, the two college aged men got up, and walked out to a white van. David paused to glance at the Starbucks. Something made him want to stay there.

"You coming or what?" Chris called.

David sighed, and turned from the coffee Shop. 'Here we go...'

* * *

Maria spent the next day driving. She stopped once for dinner and to use the bathroom, and then parked in next an abandoned Gas Station.

It wasn't much, a shabby little building falling into disrepair, and filled with mildew. It wasn't Maria's first choice, but it would work for the night. A faucet outside allowed her the small luxury of washing her hair out. It was a small comfort, and a relief to her. As she ran her fingers through her long wet hair, she thought her situation over.

Yet, instead of focusing on the emotional mission, Maria focused on her inventory. She had an emergency Credit Card and a good thousand dollars at her disposal. Her van was in good shape all things considered, and she had the tools necessary to fix it should something such as a flat happen. Turning the faucet off, Maria squeezed the excess water out of her hair.

She was decided. Striding back to her van, she took stock of what was in there. Napkins, a First Aid kit, a few outdated maps, a drivers manual, a spare set of keys, some cough drops, Aspirin, and an ink pen.

'Not much to work with.' She thought gloomily. It _was_ helpful, but she would have preferred some more... Necessary items.

She made note that she still had the same License plate as before. She was going to have to get rid of it, and get a new one.

Looking around, she knew there were no other cars around here. Maria shrugged it off and decided that could wait.

With that done, she pulled herself inside, locked the doors, and tried to sleep for a few hours at least.

* * *

Christopher Brown led his charge through the CIA's large lab, heading towards the elevator.

David noted the white interior of everything, the tacky color was splashed everywhere. The people walking around were almost indistinguishable from the walls, and desks for the lab coats they wore, and the pale color of their skin. David felt an impatient tug on his arm.

"This way David." Chris said, tugging him along. David followed reluctantly. He didn't really want to go on into the integration room. Oh he could out last any officer they threw his way, and probably become the cause of many a headache, but it wasn't something he wanted to do. It made him mad to think they'd treat him this way, despite all the things his mother had done for them, risked for them. The government was such an ungrateful branch to serve. Hence he and Lee refused to seek help from them.

He followed Chris into the elevator, and waited, as the man pressed the button. Silence had sat between them since Chris had arrested David.

"So..." He ventured. "Just how deep does the government want me?"

"We actually didn't want to arrest you." Chris sated, staring at the doors.

"But you did. That didn't change, just because you were sorry." David pointed out.

Chris chuckled. "Guess not. What I'm trying to say is; you're in only as deep as an agent can get."

David shot Chris a look of confusion. Chris just smiled back.

"No Dave, it's not cause of your mother's record. I'll let the captain explain."

David shifted as the bell chimed signaling they had reached their destination. Chris walked out as the doors slid open noiselessly. David followed cautiously.

He was totally shocked. This room looked like a living room. A spacious and nicely furnished living room, but a living room none the less. Chairs and sofas sat crookedly along the walls. Further in, where another door sat, just to the left was a large plasma screen TV, the width of the wall, and a bright pink chair in front of it. A small metal table sat next to it stacked with books, and magazines, and a universal remote.

Another table to the right of the room in the midway between himself and the doorway, with a small pink colored boom box, and a small pink I-pod, with a pink I-dog. Pink and white rugs festooned the floor.

David turned to Chris, his stare questioning.

"You can wait here." Chris stated, walking to the door on the other end. "Sit in any chair you please, just don't touch the electronics. Their owner would have a fit in you messed with them."

David raised an eyebrow. "Their owner?"

Chris walked hastily to the door, typing in a code to enter. "I'll return shortly with the Captain."

"And he'll answer my questions?" David queried.

Chris paused, then hit the enter button and disappeared beyond the doors.

'Well...' David thought, sitting on a black couch. 'That answers at least _one_ of my questions...'

He glanced at the pink assortment of electronic on the table directly in front him.

'Now just what is _this_ about?'

* * *

Leo and his brothers stalked around the lair unhappily. Everyone was brooding over developments. Not only were they unable to touch the evidence on David Connrad, but three more siblings had vanished into thin air. Amy and Aiden Connrad, a pair of twins, and Maria Connrad. That left one sibling, Anne Connrad who was under tight surveillance. So they were stuck. Leonardo was as frustrated as Raphael. No leads on the Foot. None they could reach anyway. Donatello also seemed annoyed, as he tried to hack the CIA, with no luck. Even the mellow Michelangelo was a little testy. They were all on a hair trigger. Donny and Raph were at odds with each other, snapping and snarling almost every time they met. Leo and Mikey weren't getting along too well either, both poking and prodding at the other.

At last, Splinter had had enough. "Boys!" He shouted, his whispering voice louder than anyone expected, causing them all to jump, as it boomed, and echoed through out their home.

Four pairs of eyes stared at him, shock coursing through each iris. Leonardo who had been a moment away from throwing the remote at Mikey. Mikey himself wasn't far away from beating his eldest brother over the head with a game controller. Raph and Don were about to kill each other with their own weapons, over how Raph had burnt the popcorn.

Yet as soon as their sensei had spoken they all stopped in mid-stride as if they had been frozen there by some great and terrible force.

"Stop this useless bickering." He stated. "Perhaps an outing would do you well."

"An outing Sensei?" Mikey asked. "Like Starbucks!?"

"Yes my son." Splinter smiled. "You and your brothers should get some air."

"Sensei," Leo broke in. "I don't think-"

The rat turned a sharp gaze upon his eldest son. "Leonardo. Sometimes the answer you seek is outside of your own world. Now all of you go."

Leonardo didn't argue. His Sensei knew best after all, even if he didn't want to.

"Let's get this over with." He sighed.

* * *

As Maria drove over the bridge, and into the city excitement filled her. The dull, almost paranoid teen she was during her long, week trip across country vanished instantly, as he found herself a parking place. Resting her head against the window she smiled.

"I made it..." She chuckled, rubbing her temples. A tear streaked its way down her cheek.

She started laughing in relief. "I made it!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. It felt good. It felt so nice to scream, and not in agony either. It was in joy.

It had been a hard trek to New York. She hadn't slept much in the wee hours, nightmares clouding her dreams, and keeping energy from her. Plus she had had to abandon using her credit card, realizing by watching a news report that she was being tracked with it. She withdrew as much as she dared, then gave the card to a beggar on the side of the road. It had thrown them off, and she felt pleased with herself, even if a little miffed at the loss of a steady funding.

Wiping away the stray tears, Maria pushed the van door open. "Guess I better get down to business..."

Locking the doors behind her, Maria made her way to the nearest coffee shop, a small little place. Something in it relaxed her. There was just something about this Starbucks; it felt almost like a piece of home. She went up and despite her small funds, she bought a small coffee.

'I deserve it.' She justified. 'Who'd have thought I would have-_could_ have come all this way on my own? What's a small treat in celebration?'

Still Maria sipped it slowly, and carefully so as to enjoy it fully. That was one of the things about running. She was beginning to notice how much she missed creature comforts. Baths, A place to sleep in that wasn't your car, a job, almost anything she used to enjoy at home she now truly appreciated. Oh, she managed, washing her hair on occasion in a locked bathroom of a gas station, but it made her miss her home so much.

'Alrighty then...' She thought taking a final sip. 'Time to get down to business.'

Glancing up at the clock she confirmed the time. Just after two. Good. She had plenty of time... Just no ideas.

Now that she was here, Maria had no idea as to where to begin. How did one find Four Paladins in New York City? She sighed, and stood. Only one way to find out.

"Excuse me?" Maria asked the cashier. It seemed as thought whenever she needed help she went to the people who worked behind the counter. Of course, she always tried to leave a tip for information.

"Yes?" The teen asked. He was a young man, just coming out of high school she guessed. Although he seemed bored with his job here, unenthusiastic.

"I was wondering if you knew of any local heroes or anything like that?"

He shrugged, and looked past her at some figures in long trench coats, and hats coming in. "Beats me. Can I help you?" He asked the first figure.

Maria felt rather cheated. She glared at the man for a moment, then turned away, and scuffled out of the cafe.

* * *

Leo despised the fact that he was standing in line to a Starbucks. He found it to be more of a robbery than a business. Who charged four to five dollars for a small cup of coffee. Yet, here he was, waiting for Mikey, and Donny to make their orders so they could get out of there. Raph wasn't much for coffee either. He preferred Ice cream treats of the caffeine drinks any day.

Leonardo felt Don elbowing him hard in the ribs. He turned to his younger brother, about to tell him he didn't appreciate the painful jab.

"See that girl?" Don whispered, nodding towards the girl who was just asking a question of the cashier.

Leo squinted studying her. She was average height, with brown frizzy looking hair, and dark skin. He didn't recognize her.

"Yeah." He replied. "So?"

"You don't recognize her?" Don asked. "That's Maria Connrad!"

Leo's brown eyes widened. "No way..."

"Way." Don grinned. "Come on." He said tugging his brother along. "We've got to go after her."

Leo nodded. "Right. You go, and I'll get Raph to get the van."

Don paused. "Got a plan?"

"You better believe it." The eldest smiled. He rushed over to Raph.

"Raph, once Mikey's got his treat, get the van, and follow our signals." He said in a quick whisper.

The red masked turtle glance at his leader. "Eh?"

"Got a lead. Trust me. I gotta scoot."

And with that, Leonardo made a beeline for the door, following after Donatello, and his lead.

* * *

Maria walked back to her van more than a little annoyed. She had heard of cities being full of rude people. Heck, New Orleans was a place that screamed that.

Still, it was frustrating to her. She needed to find these 'paladins'. For her brothers, and for herself.

A hand grabbed her shoulder causing her to jump, and whirl around in one smooth panicked movement. Standing next to her was a startled man, wearing a long brown trench coat, and matching hat.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."

His voice sounded much younger than she had expected, and she had to blink away the surprise on her face before he noticed that.

If he did, he let it slide as shock from someone tapping her.

"I just overheard you talking to the clerk, and I couldn't help my curiosity. What exactly are you looking for?"

Suspicion rose in Maria's countenance. She didn't like that question. Not at all. It was too curious, too interested. And she was far too paranoid to take kindly to prodding questions.

"Nothing." She said, a little briskly. "Just a child's tale."

"Really?" The man asked. Maria decided he couldn't be much older than herself, or at the most, no older than Amy and Aiden. "What do you mean?"

Instantly, she wished she hadn't of said that. Any excuse seemed better. However it was said, and done, so she quickly came with a lame cover story. It might just work if she could pull it off.

"I'm aspiring to be a writer, and I have a creative writing assignment for my English grade. I was hoping to find a lead on some local heroes, so I could base it off of real life, and kind of help me fill in the gaps so to speak." She replied smoothly.

The man seemed a little shocked at the quick reply. "Oh."

"It's-It's a bit embarrassing to have somebody ask..." She faked a sheepish smile.

'I could win a Grammy.' She thought, looking for the nearest out.

"Really? That's impressive."

"Not really." She shrugged.

"He means your acting skills." Someone said from behind her. She jumped in surprise, as a hand closed around her arm. Another man in trench coat grabbed her other arm.

'Two!?' She thought struggling to get out of their grips.

"Hang up a sec, we're not going to hurt you!" A new voice came, and Maria quickly discovered not two, but four figures clad in brown hats, and trench coats that hid their faces, and anything about them really.

"Just hold up a sec, kay?" The voice added. This one was young, younger than her she'd venture.

"No way!" She screeched, trying to fight them off at once.

"Look, we're not trying to hurt you Maria!" The second one added. He had a mature, tough, and hard to read voice. It was less of the tone pitch, tempo, or sound that worried Maria at the moment. It was what he had said.

"Oh God..." She whispered. Maria went limp for a moment. "You knew?"

"Wasn't hard." The first voice commented. "Despite looking like you've seen better days, you still look like your missing photo.

'Damn' she thought.

"Sorry kiddo, you've been out played." The fourth one spoke up. His voice was thick with a Brooklyn accent, and a sort of indifference that reminded her vaguely of Anne, or Lee.

She glanced around for a minute, then sighed. "Okay, what do you crazy people want? I know very little."

"To be expected." The first one acknowledged. "You are one of the younger siblings. But that makes me think you know more than you let on."

Maria looked towards them, her eyes hard, and angry. "Look, you've Aiden! What the hell do you need me for!"

The four looked at each other for a moment.

"What?" They all asked at once.

"I swear to God," Maria growled. "If you _dare_ play dumb I'll-"

"Dumb about what?" The second asked. "We aren't playing here. You know-"

She cut him off with a vicious jab to his face. Freeing her other arm, Maria whirled around to face the next one, and kicked him hard in the crotch are before making a run for it.

"Help!" She screamed. "Somebody help!"

The four stood frozen in surprise. She had just done something none of them had thought a girl on the run would dare to do.

"We better scoot!" Mikey whispered urgently, making a run for it.

"Agreed." Leo nodded, following suit, and heading for the nearest Man-hole leading to the sewers.

* * *

Authoress Comment:Yeah, you didn't see that coming did you? You thought that they were all going to get along as soon as Maria accussed them of being Foot, didn't you? Bwahahaha! I got you! I really didn't like where Maria came in towards the end of the chapter, because it just too obvoius, so I changed it up to better fit, and twist the plot. Please review!


	9. Seeing turtles

Hey, I'm alive. Just had a long vacation. And getting to a computer without beating people off with a stick is an impossible miracle. So here I am.

* * *

_**Rated T for:**_Realism, Violence, and some mild language. (All in it's place, as it should be.)

_Inspiration:_ Brothers, pain in the neck when their around, pain in the heart when their gone.

**Thanks to:** Pretender Fanatic, Storm Princess, and , PainterofSorrows

* * *

Maria made it back to her van in short order, locking the doors, and making a quick drive off for it. She had been so close to capture. She knew that. It had been too close. If they caught her, there was no hope for them. None for her family at all.

As she drove into a new parking space, she felt her heart squeeze in pain. Maria understood how important this was, but she was having a hard time with it. It wasn't in her nature to be running from some sort of organization, and their leader, a man of whom she had one meeting with, and dozens of childish memories of what this man could do.

Laying her head against the steering wheel, Maria let the stinging tears form, and run down her face.

She was alone in this fight, and now she was going to have to bring up her guard a little more.

"Time to up the anty I guess..." She sighed, wiping away the tears. "Alright then..."

Maria braided her hair back into two pigtails, trailing down her back. That would help her hide her hair easier. Then she counted out the cash she had. Six grand. Enough to help her if she was careful with it.

Maria smiled. She could do this. Despite the vague clues as to what she was looking for, she could do it. Her next step was to continue her search. The local News Station might have something. She sighed. Her next step was clear. Now if she could just do it without getting herself killed...

* * *

Leo growled, kicking into the air. She had given him the slip. His last hopes at finding the Foot had out-witted him. Him. Him, the leader, the tactician.

He threw a vicious left hook to an invisible enemy. Another kick. A second punch. As many as he could throw, until he was worn. Still his enemy loomed over him, laughing at his sad defeat.

A hand touched his shoulder, causing him to turn. His sensei stood a sad smile on his face.

"My son," He said. "This frustration is difficult to combat, but you mustn't let it conquer you, and those around you."

"But Master Splinter, we just lost our only lead!" Leo exclaimed. "How could she have gotten away!?"

The old rat shook his head. "Leonardo. Have patience with this. You will find Maria Connrad again, and I have a feeling that when you do, she will have some answers in store."

Splinter walked to the door, then paused. "But perhaps," He said, looking thoughtful. "They won't be the ones we are expecting."

* * *

Maria woke up that evening feeling tired, and truly frightened. Fear was something that she had pushed to the back of her consciousness, but now it was front and center.

'I'll just have to think of something different...' She thought groggily. 'First thing's first...' She went out to the back, and pulled out a screw driver. Going around to the side, she unscrewed the license plat, and tucked it under her arm. She made her down the street until she came to a row of cars. Looking through the cars, she went on until she found a plate that was newer, and had no particular lettering or numbering. It was average. Working quickly, she pulled of the New York License plate, and replaced it hastily with her old Louisiana plate. As soon as she was done, Maria made a dash for her van, and put the license plate on. Standing back she studied her work, pleased.

Next, Maria went into a Gas Station and bought a Bass Pro hat, and a big baggy dragon T-shirt, and disappeared into the bathroom. Tucking her long hair into the cap, and pulling her new over-sized Tee over her plain black blouse. She glanced at her appearance in the mirror. It was an improvement, but it still needed something. Glancing down at her feet she got it.

Maria made a run to a local shoe store. Picking out a medium pair of steel toed boots, colored black, she completed her costume. Her baggy dark blue jeans would have to do for now.

With that, Maria took her van to the Channel Six news station. She smiled. This was it.

She walked inside to see a young receptionist. She couldn't be much older than David, with pink rimmed glasses, and a gaudy colored lip stick. A name tag read: 'Irma'.

'Kay...' Maria thought, gulping. 'Here goes.'

"Excuse me Miss." Maria called, deepening her voice to sound more masculine.

The woman looked up. "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you knew where I could get some information." She smiled.

"Hmm, what sort of information are you looking for?" The woman leaned forward some.

"Local Heroes." She shrugged. "I'm doing a report for school, and I'd like it to be an A."

Irma considered that for a moment. "Well I don't know..."

"Ah, please Miss Irma Ma'am," Maria deepened her voice, looking truly pained. "If I don't bring back a good grade..." She looked away for a moment, then looked back up, and tried to pull a tough act. "Never mind. I'll try elsewhere." She turned away.

"Oh!" She heard the receptionist cry. "No, it's alright. Please, come with me."

'Waaaaay too easy!' She thought triumphantly. "Okay..."

Irma led her to the elevator, and handed her a card.

"Clip this to your shirt, and you're free and clear. You can go to the computer lab, on the third floor, and get information there. The password for the computer is "guest"." She instructed.

"Thank you Ma'am." Maria smiled, entering the elevator's confined space.

"Good luck with your report." Irma waved, then walked back to her desk, picking up a book. Maria wasn't totally sure, but from what she could gather from the cover, it was a romance novel.

'...Somebody needs a life...badly.' She thought, punching the number to the third floor. 'Ah well. I'd trade mine for hers any day.'

As she reached the floor she felt anticipation. Maria was finally going to get some info on her childhood heroes, and that in and of itself was special. More importantly though, she was going to find a way to help her family, and end this accursed nightmare.

'Well,' she thought chuckling to herself. 'I always wanted to go on an adventure.'

* * *

Leonardo sat in the living room with his brothers doing something that was necessary. Both for him, and his brothers.

"Look. I've been kind of a jerk ever since this whole CIA bit started in." He turned to eye each one of his brothers. Raph had his arms crossed, his face held no particular emotion, just an attentive stare. His brown eyes held a question, almost saying; 'Okay Leo, what is it now?'

Donny sat back facing the computer, every aspect of him telling Leo he was focused, and paying close attention to his words. A typical stance for Don.

Mikey sat next to the play station, bored expression. His bright blue eyes glazed over, in disinterest. Also very typical.

"I'm sorry."

At this, Mikey glanced up. Raph squinted in confusion, and Don swiveled to better face his brother. More natural reactions, to a seldom used word. Sure they had often got into fights when they were younger, and even plenty now. It was just one of those words they didn't have to say. In a strange way, all of them were connected. They understood where the other three were weak, where they were strong. As such, it always seemed that when one had wronged the other, and realized this, the bother seemed to know, and simply accept, without apology. This phrase seemed so foreign, they all took notice.

"I just got so caught up in chasing after the Foot... I-" He chuckled, embarrassed. " I guess I've been endangering all of us."

"That kid was scared too." Raph added. "Not that we really expect any different from her, but you weren't very patient."

"She didn't see anything though." Don stated matter of fact. "If she had seen us, she wouldn't have been able to escape. She'd be in too much shock."

"Well, the next time we see her," Leo sighed crossing his arms. "We'll have to be more careful."

"And treat her as your equal." Splinter's voice stated, as the rat came into the conversation. He had been in the kitchen where he could hear his son's discussion, while he worked on preparing dinner. Pizza.

"Eh?" Raph asked, squinting one eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The rat came to sit on the old chair that he had long used when he was going to tell his sons something of great importance. Such things usually didn't apply to the battlefield, or not directly. Mostly the most important things about life.

"My sons," Splinter said, authority in his voice. "She may be young, in experience, and in knowledge, but she has some knowledge that few possess." He let his words sink in for a moment before continuing. "Firstly, she has knowledge of her own life, and what she knows, and in her case, it is an invaluable asset. Secondly she has some knowledge as to what the Foot are doing. And thirdly, while we do no know her reasons for being here, we do know that they must be important."

"Yeah, that's been bothering me." Donny piped up.

The others focused their attentions on the brainic of the group.

"Think about it. If she were running from the Foot, she wouldn't come to New York. That's like trying to avoid getting burned by sitting in an oven."

"Yeah." Mikey added. "If the Foot don't find her first, the Purple Dragons'll make short work of her."

Raph gave a silent curse under his breath. "We'd better find this kid quick then."

"Where do we start?" Don groaned.

"Starbucks?" Mikey suggested hopefully.

His suggestion was met with annoyed glances, and mostly stiff silence. His sensei shook his head in that 'where did I go wrong?' Sort of shake.

"Maybe April would have something for us." Leo commented.

"Did I just hear an excuse for us to go topside?" Raph grinned, touching his sias. "What are we waiting for?!"

With a shout of excitement, Raph jumped to his feet, and made a beeline for the elevator. Leo smiled. For once, he had to agree with his hot-headed brother. This was it. The other two felt it as well, following after Raph.

"Leonardo." Splinter called. The eldest turtle paused. "Remember what I said, my son."

Leo nodded. "Yes, Sensei."

* * *

'I've just wasted, two hours of your life.' Maria thought, her eyes glazed over. She stared vacantly at the screen telling of firefighters, and cheerleaders who saved people from fires. A few random citizens who managed to save they day once or twice, a tale of an ex-gang member who snitched them out to the police.

The list of Lone rangers over the years went on. It was a list of people who alone did the right thing, when no one else. None of them fit the description of what Maria was looking for.

She sat back and let out a heavy sigh. This just wasn't her day.

'Course,' she thought chuckling wryly to herself. 'I haven't had a day where everything went right in soooo long.'

She glanced at the Top stories. Random stuff to do with celebrities, politicians and stuff like that. A few things on turtles-

'Good grief.' Maria thought running a hand over her face. 'If you were to pick up a book, you'd learn far more about turtles instead of watching about them on the News, we'd have people who actually knew about how the world worked, not a bunch of bums with no future.'

A door opening caught her attention. There had been a few people who had paused to see what she was up to, but hadn't taken much interest in her at all. Just a small glance at the screen, then walked off. She glanced up at the door anyway to see who was coming in.

She nearly choked at the sight. Four figures in long brown trench coats, and brown hats. Leather gloves were worn around their hands, and it almost looked like they only had three fingers.

Fear made Maria's spine tingle, as she tried not to shiver. She had never experienced the kind of fear that drove her whip back around to the computer screen in terror. She hunched over in discomfort, feeling trapped. She squeezed her eyes shut.

Footsteps echoed in her skull as the foursome passed by her and the computer that she was working on. Their loud footfalls nearly drove her mad as they felt slow, her heart beating twice the rate of their carefully placed steps. She almost expected them to glance at the screen to see what she was looking at, or to surround her and laugh at her sheer stupidity. She expected them to pull of their trench coats to reveal black clad ninja prepared to take her away from here, into her worst nightmare, torturing her for the amusement of it, or for the information she didn't have. A single tear made its way down her face, a testimony to her terror.

She heard a door shut silently, a noise that seemed so loud it screamed into her ears. Maria's head shot up.

They were gone. She was alone again.

With no second thoughts, Maria jumped to her feet, canceled everything she was doing, and flew to the elevator. She couldn't jam the first floor button enough times. Panic surged through her body, adding to the adrenaline rush. She was scared. Her face was pale, her eyes as wide as green pools.

The doors opened, and Maria shot out of them, practically running for the door.

"Did you find something for your report?" The receptionist asked, calling out to her.

"Yes!" She squeaked automatically. "Th-thank you!" She added hastily, shoving the doors open.

The warm, night air rushed out to greet her, relieving her of the over air conditioned building. Still a chill hung around Maria, a truly hair-raising feeling. Goose bumps covered her arms, as she made a beeline for the parking garage. It was a short walk up to the second story where her van was parked.

That chill grew into a tempest of cold, mind-numbing fear, as Maria stared in panic at her van.

Five men in black suits, with red foots screaming out, surrounded her vehicle. She ducked back, hiding behind a red Porsche.

'Oh God-' She felt her stomach churn, as she crouched behind the expensive car. 'Did Lee ever have to face this sort of thing?' She wondered, as she glanced around wildly for an exit. There!

A chained off sectioned leading to the first floor! Maria slowly crawled towards it on her hands and knees. Once she reached the chained off exit, she ducked under the chains, and slipped to the floor, carefully. Getting to her feet, she began to brush off some dust.

Harsh laughter met her ears, making her look up. A group of some twenty odd men stood in front of her, all wearing baggy pants, holding bats, chains, metal pipes, and an assortment of dangerous looking weapons.

Fear struck her dumb. Maria stood there frozen in shock and fear, as the leader advanced. He was a tall, burly built man with a scar across his face, and a long Chinese styled dragon tattooed in purple over his forehead, and coming up from his neck.

"She's smarter then she looks, ain't ya girly?" He asked, holding up a large, long chain.

Terror held her throat. She couldn't scream. Horror froze her feet in place. Maria stared helplessly as they came closer. Her eyes were wide, mere pools of green eyes of fear.

"Aw, looks like she's just gonna stand there. Well, let's load her up then! Saki's gonna give us a good cut for this!"

The front man reached out and grabbed her arm. The touch of his rough, oversized hand snapped Maria back out of her fear. Anger found its way to her heart as she ripped her arm from his grip.

"Oh-howaoh!" He laughed. "Maybe she's got fight after all!"

The gang behind him remained silent.

"Let's see what you got Princess." He said, bringing up his chain.

Maria gulped, not really wanting to fight. Fighting was not really something that she and Amy were known for. Anne had been known for wailing on people who had had the bad fortune of getting on her bad side, or picking a fight with her. When she was in third grade once, she beat up a sixth grader. Amy told Aiden, and let him do the threatening. Maria never really had that problem before. If the boys got rough, she bit them with her little sharp teeth.

Now here she was, scared for her life, and all she could think to do...Well...

"Ahhhh!" The dragon faced man screamed hitting the new attachment that held his arm in an iron grip. Maria held him with her teeth, and shoved her knee into his most sensitive area.

'_Always remember Rei,Rei,'_Lee had told her once after a wrestling match between her and Aiden. '_Use your bite to hold him, then give him a dynamite move that'll drop him. If you can drop him, land a heavy dog pile. Easy, right?'_

'Oh, Lee, if you only knew how hard this was gonna be...' She thought relaxing her jaw, and letting the man fall to the ground. 'I think you might have given me some better advice.'

With her elbow angled down, Maria jumped, on top of him, her sharp elbow connecting with his neck. There was a hiss, as he tried to expel the air from her landing on his stomach, and a loud crack from his jaw bones. His eyes went wide as he stared her. Two men rushed to his aid, knocking Maria over with a bat.

She quickly got the message, and rolled away from the crowd. She rolled up to a kneeling position before jumping up and taking off. The second floor was waiting, along with three ninja, prepared to take her down.

Had Maria been less frightened, and frantic, she might have cursed, but she was scared to the point of insanity. She stopped, starring at her new situation. Ninja in front, gang members behind, no help in sight.

She glanced around wildly. "Help!" She screamed. "Somebody!"

Two hands grasped her mouth, cutting off the ear-piercing cry. She struggled, tears rushing down her face, blinding her.

"Hey!"

Maria's hazel eyes whipped around to the new voice. Standing in the entrance of the parking Garage, were four figures. They were clad in long, brown trench coats. Brown hats sat atop their heads.

One stepped forward. "Let the lady go."

Maria blinked. 'What!?' She thought, stupidly. 'What the Hell is going on!?'

One of the ninja made a sign with his hand. The gang members glanced at each other, confused.

"What's that mean again?" One whispered loudly.

The ninja let out a loud huff. "Just attack them!" He snarled.

The gang needed no more urging they leapt at the foursome. Maria would have liked to see how these men handled themselves, but she had more pressing matters to attend to.

The two ninja pulled her further up towards the second floor. Maria jerked against them, and strained her arm form their grip. It slowed their progress, giving Maria an idea. She whipped around, and shoved herself backwards, throwing her body into her attackers. They went down, the ninja falling into a wall.

Kicking their arms off of her, and untangled herself. Someone grabbed her ankle, and pulled her to the ground. She landed on the concrete with a thud. Maria let out a high pitched shriek, whirling around, and shoving her heavy steel-toed boot into the man's face. There was a loud snap, and the hand around her ankle released her. Scrambling to her feet, Maria rushed off. She dashed for her car, huffing loudly. Her Bass Pro hat had fallen off sometime in the struggle, but she didn't care. She needed to get away. Her hand grasped the handle. She ripped the door open, and vaulted into the drivers side, reaching for her keys, she jammed them into the slot. The driver's side door opened, and an arm tore her away from the wheel, tossing her onto the pavement.

A rough looking woman stared down at her, laughing. "Thought you could make a run for it sweetheart?" She asked, reaching for the keys, shifting her weight to her left leg. "Won't be able to if I take the keys." She laughed harshly.

Maria kicked her left leg, bringing the woman down with a cry, as she twisted the keys in the ignition.

Light blinded Maria as a loud roar erupted in her ears. Her cries were lost in the din, as the force of the explosion threw her across the parking lot. Her back connected with the pavement, as she skidded to a stop, whimpering in pain. Sitting up, she glanced around. Fire was still burning from the car. Glass lay everywhere, and car alarms blared. She had to get away. She had to move before more came after her.

Maria pushed herself unsteadily back onto her feet, wobbling towards the stairs. She had to get away. Shoving the heavy door open she fell over onto her stomach. The door swung back, crashing painfully into her legs. She let out a howl of agony, as she pulled her feet towards her chest. The door crashed back into place with an audible click.

Maria sat up, adrenaline pushing the pain in her body aside. She stumbled down the stairs, holding back whimpers, as she clutched the stairwell's support.

She reached the bottom quicker than she had expected, a small thing to be thankful for. Putting all her weight against the crash bar, Maria swung out with the door, losing her balance in the process. She twisted her body mid-fall, letting her shoulder take the full impact. She let out a muffled cry, as the pain shot up her shoulder like fire.

Maria rolled over onto her back, relieving the pressure some. She looked straight up at the ceiling, holding back a torrent of pain filled tears, as she took slow, deliberate breaths. Everything hurt. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire, her chest heaved with the struggle of breathing, and her arms were limp like wet noodles. She knew glass was sticking out of her right calf, and her back was scraped up for sure. The rest hurt, although the reasons escaped her.

A figure stooped over her, pressing three green fingers against her sore shoulder. She whimpered, reaching over, and shoving the hand away. She tried to sit up, and fend off her new attacker, but found no strength to. Her sore, battered body betrayed her, refusing to move more than it absolutely had to.

Maria felt the three fingered hand press against her shoulder again, and let out a growl. The hand, in response, pressed harder.

Maria threw her torso up into a sitting position, as she shoved the hand aside. She gasped at the pain, panting from the effort.

"Is she okay Donny?" A voice asked, steadily coming closer.

"Looks banged up." Another comment, a little closer, with a heavy accent. Maria wasn't sure which it was, everything seemed so foggy. She glanced up, and saw four figures. The first was squatting down on his heels, examining her leg, refusing to answer, or look up. The second stood close by, arms crossed, glancing with some interest at the two of them on the ground. Two more figures stood together, coming closer to the scene, one bearing a pile of dark coats.

It wasn't what they were doing that frightened her. It was their appearance. Each one of them was some shade of green, with a large, round shell on their backs. The first one wore a thin strip of purple fabric as a mask around his eyes. A long sturdy looking stick lay at his side, the middle wrapped in a white fabric to better keep one's grip.

The second Turtle wore a similar styled mask, his being a bright red. A leather belt was tied around his waist, with a pair of metal sias hanging within easy reach. He glanced back at the others.

The one with the coats wore an orange mask, and a worried expression, as he walked up to stand next to the red masked turtle. He too wore a belt with a pair of numchucks at on his left. The coats in his other arm obscured the other side of the belt, but Maria assumed he had another one on his right hip.

The fourth turtle came up to the purple masked one, and gave Maria's body a small sweep. He wore a blue mask, and unlike the previous two, his weapons were place on his back. Maria guessed they were Katana's, as the swords crossed his back in an X-shape.

"Banged up doesn't quite cover it Raph." The purple on spoke.

'Oh my-' her surprised thoughts were interrupted by a touch on her leg.

Maria reacted instantly, jumping to her feet, swatting the human-like creature aside.

"Whoa, easy." The purple one said quickly. "Someone, hold her."

The blue turtle stepped forward, and reached out to steady her wobbling form. Maria stepped to the side.

"I'm fine!" She squeaked, holding her hands out to balance herself. "Just leave me alone."

"I have to disagree." The purple Turtle said, now fully on his feet. "You're lucky to be alive, much less moving."

"Yeah, lucky..." She muttered, taking a step closer to the concrete wall.

"You need to sit down at least." He added.

Placing a hand against the wall, Maria took another step, leaning heavily on the wall for support.

"Uh-uh." She growled. "I don't appreciate your attacking," She took another step. "and chasing," Another step. "Me."

She paused for breath, panting for air.

"We weren't trying to hurt you." The blue turtle stated. "We wanted your help."

"Yeah right." She spat, taking a third step. "And next you'll expect me to believe we can help each other."

"Ah, com'n dudette." The one with the Orange mask spoke up. "You need to recover, and probably a place to stay. That car was all you had I'm guessing."

Maria winced, halting in her progress. He was right.

The other turtles looked at him, as if surprised. he shrugged at their inquiring glances.

"Think about it."

"I can get those on my own." Maria replied, stepping forward again. "I can't stop now."

The red one threw up his hands. "You sound like _me!_"

"No," She growled quietly to herself. "I sound like my sister."

"What?" The blue masked Turtle.

"Nothing." She sighed. "Look, I don't need your help."

"Care to tell us how you're going to escape notice of the cops?" He asked. "You can't walk very far, and you're easy prey for muggers."

Maria glanced at him. He smiled, rather smugly, his brown eyes searching from behind his blue mask.

"I-I" She paused, glaring back. "Oh I don't know!"

She threw her hands up, leaning her back against the wall. "How do I know you aren't working for Oroku Saki!?"

All three turtles stiffened at the accusation. The blue masked one, seemed to appear more hostile, his brown eyes gaining a glint.

"The shredder is our sworn enemy." He stated. "We have a common enemy."

"With a tacky nick-name." Maria added, smiling slightly. "I dunno about that Blue."

Maria glanced at them, and for the first time realized that there were four of them. It didn't make much sense to her mind. The story never mentioned any human form, but... Surely Lee, or David would have thought to tell her whether they were turtles...Wouldn't they?

Maria took them in. They had acted with heroism. 'But are they the deal?' She wondered silently.

She closed her eyes considering. 'What's the worse that could happen?' Her naive side asked.

'I don't _want_to know.' Her newfound cautious side snarled.

'Do you have a choice?'

As if in answer to her internal question, sirens sounded off in the distance.

'...Danm...' She thought, despising the interference.

"What I _do_ know is that I still have a mission to do."

Maria reopened her eyes. "So I guess I have to go with ya'll, and tough it out."

The orange masked one gave out a happy whoop.

"Cowabunga dudes!"

The blue one seemed pleased, but not quite so enthusiastic. The red one snorted, walking away, pausing only to say:

"Let's get this roller coaster ride over with."

"I'm driving!" The orange turtle raced past his red friend, who was now trying to catch up.

"Great." The purple turtle sighed. "Either way, we're dead."

Blue chuckled quietly, as he walked calmly after the other two.

Maria shoved herself away from the wall, limping after them. She shook her head when the purple masked turtle offered her his arm.

"I can do it." She stated stubbornly.

"Sure," He shrugged. "But your going slower than us."

"And that's pretty sad, being out walked by a turtle." Blue added, glancing behind at her.

Maria couldn't help it. She laughed. She laughed despite how much it hurt to do so. It felt good.

"Okay." She smiled. "You win."

* * *

Authoress Comment:Was that explosive enough for y'all? Cause This was sooooo much fun to do. I finally found a place to throw "Cowabunga" in there too. Yes! Well, Y'all know how this works! Review!


	10. Safe

I figure it was about time I updated. School's just had me down lately, so I didn't get around to it sooner. But here it is.

* * *

_**Rated T For**_: Violence, and mild language. (everything in it's place. If you see something too strong, or out of place, let me know.)

_Inspiration:_ Brothers. Pain in neck when they're around, pain in the heart when they're gone.

**Thanks to:** moon eclipse shadows, roudyredd, painterofsorrows, Pretender Fanatic, and i. I love reviews!

_Note to_ i: Amy's condition is set out a little bit better in this chapter I hope. For clarification though, Amy's going through something known as Shell Shock. (A little bit different from its usual meaning mind you.) Without her twin though, she's just looking for anything to release her tension on, and Maria got the short end of the stick. I'm glad you asked though. I'll make sure to have it explained further. And yes, I plan on telling the rest of the fairy tales all in good time.

* * *

David Jumped to his feet, as the elevator door opened. A thin man with wide rimmed glasses, and a white lab coat wrapped around him walked out, passing David up as if he hadn't seen him. He had light brown hair, and brown pants poking out from underneath his lab coat.

He paused at the Security door, tapping digits into the key pad. He hummed as it processed the information. With a glance around the room, his eyes went straight to David, causing him to start.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I didn't't see you there." He chuckled nervously. "And you are?"

"David." The younger man replied.

"Ah, pleasure to meet you sir." The man smiled. "I'm Professor Perry. You must be the new lab assistant."

"I highly doubt that." David muttered, shaking his head. "No, I'm waiting for the Captain to tell me what I'm doing here."

"Oh." The professor's face fell. "That Captain's a hard man, you'd best watch yourself." He warned.

The door slid open, making the professor glance at David. His expression held a distinct note of sadness.

"I'd invite you in, but you'd best wait here." He went inside, then, as an afterthought poked his head back outside.

"Uh, just whatever you do, please don't touch those electronics." And with that, he was gone.

David looked back at the pile of pink. A wry smile slipped onto his face.

'That is suddenly oh-so tempting...'

* * *

Aiden lay in his cell, quietly contemplating his next move. Maria was safe, and so long as Amy didn't move, she too was safe. It gave him a sense of accomplishment. He had protected his sisters, and that was the main goal. He just hoped he had done well enough.

Aiden turned over on the dirty floor. He should be proud. He should be able to rest in peace. Yet there was a nagging in the back of his mind. Worry.

Worry that something had gone wrong. Worry for Amy's state of mind. She had often proved that the stress was hard on her. Oh she hid it well, but her disposition to stay indoors, and fear of roaming the streets had caused her to fear, and hate the outdoors had shown Aiden just how dangerous it was getting. Not to mention, his twin didn't trust anyone other than him. They shared a bond common among twins, and he knew that she was having a major physiological problem.

Alas, there was no one he could seek help from. Who in the normal world would understand the curse their family faced, or could possibly help them with such a problem? It was a problem. A huge problem. Not a thing could be done for it though, not while he was under the Foot's toe.

'My humor is getting worse.' He thought turning over. 'Amy would kill me for such a stupid joke.'

He grimaced slightly, and closed his eyes. Those bruises and cuts were going to need time to heal.

* * *

If anyone had ever told Maria that she was going to be sitting in the back of a van, with four humanoid turtles, she would have called them crazy. They wouldn't of been too far off either, just missing her trying to tell one of them to let her be, and trying not to scream from all the swerves, sharp turns, and twisting into other people's lanes, that the driver was doing. Other than that, they would have been right on the money, and Maria would have cursed their predictions until she couldn't create anymore cuss words.

"Just let me remove the glass." The purple one tried.

"In a swerving car?!" She screeched. "Are you _mad_!?"

"Mikey, slow and steady!" He barked.

The Orange Masked turtle had apparently beat the Red one to the car and was now driving like a mad-man. He turned his head to look at his brother, indignation on his face.

"First you tell me to hurry before she passes out, and now you're telling me to go slow. Make up your mind Don."

"Mikey, look out!" Blue hissed, sitting up, waving his arms.

Orange turned in time to swerve out of an oncoming vehicles path. Maria was beginning to regret having agreed to go with them.

"Now hold still." Purple turned to her.

"Uh-uh!" She growled. "You'll rip my leg in half, you maniac!"

"Never been accused of _that_ before..." He chuckled.

"It's _not_ funny!" She shouted, clenching her fists as they took another sharp turn, throwing everyone into a dog pile.

"Owww..." She whimpered, untangling herself from Blue, and Red. "and I thought _Aiden_ couldn't drive..."

"Here," Blue handed her a rope. "Tie yourself in. It's going to be a Looooong drive..."

"Really!?" Maria hissed through gritted teeth. "I couldn't tell! The way he's driving, you'd think he was driving a race car!"

"Don't most teens?" Purple asked, rolling his eyes.

Maria took the rope, and tied one end to peg that was sticking up. She was just finishing the knot around her waist when there was another sharp turn. The rope tightened around her stomach, adding to the pain there, and expelling all the air in Maria's lungs. It hurt. If it weren't for her trying to regain lost breath, she might commit murder right then, and right there, just so that she could take the wheel from the lunatic in the front seat. Luckily for him, She was too busy with the rope around her waist to get up beat the turtle for making her ride so much more painful than it had to be.

She glimpsed the other two who were standing in the back with her grasping onto handles. They distantly reminded her of the handles people held in subway cars.

'Are these guys the ones I was supposed to find?' Maria wondered, glancing from turtle to turtle.

Blue was gritting his teeth, but otherwise distracted with his own thoughts.

Purple had his eyes closed expression mournful. He too was experiencing the ill-fortune of having orange drive. Red was sitting in the passenger seat, arms crossed, and legs spread out to help keep him from sliding around. Orange... He was driving like a convict, with music blaring from the radio, giving Maria a headache.

'Matches the rest of my body.' She thought Cynically.

At long last the van came to it's destination with a final swerve that nearly toppled the van on its side. Maria let out a yelp as they tipped. Purple caught her by the back of her shirt, keeping her from sliding forward.

"How was that?" Orange asked, turning to look at his passengers. Maria sat there for a moment, just thanking God that she was alive. The other two turtles stood awkwardly, testing out the levelness of the van before any further movement. His brother next to him uncrossed his arms, and hopped out of the vehicle as if it had been a regular ride.

"Next time," Maria growled, pulling at the knot around her waist. "_I'm _driving!"

Blue chuckled, taking one of his swords from its place on his back. It was shorter than she had thought, much shorter than the average katana.

"You'll get used to it." He said, slipping the thin metal between her body, and the rope. With a decisive tug, the rope snapped cleanly.

"Not so sure I want to..." She muttered, picking herself up. "Thanks." She added, walking to the back of the van where Purple waited, holding a hand out.

"Help her down Leo; she's not steady to begin with."

Maria didn't argue this time when Blue grabbed her around the waist and set her on the ground. She did wince at the pressure though.

The building Maria found herself to be in was an old storage room big enough to hold up to four vans, but not much else. To the far left an elevator door sat in a corner, along with a table to the right of it. Along the right side of the room were five motorcycles, and a workbench littered with tools. Boxes sat in piles next to the workbench, and in the corner. It was, in every sense of the word, a garage.

"Hello my sons." A whispering voice greeted them. "I am glad to see you all well."

Maria turned to see another creature coming their way. He was shorter than the turtles, with a walking stick, and a rather slow gait. His brown eyes swept over the four with a particular fondness, his smile genuine. Despite the fact that he was a humanoid rat, Maria felt herself drawn to this older character, as if she could almost touch the wisdom, and affection that hung in the air around him.

"Well Maria here doesn't look too stellar if you ask me." Orange grinned. "Eh, Sensei?"

The Rats' eyes shifted to the girl holding onto the back end of their van for support. Instantly, she felt ashamed. She knew she looked like a ragamuffin, her shirt worn, and ripped in places, blood oozing from her leg, and bruises festooning her face, and arms. She averted her eyes in embarrassment. No _woman_ ever looked like this. Never.

A furry hand touched her own, causing her to glance up. The rat smiled kindly at her, his wise brown eyes reflecting understanding, and compassion.

"I'm sorry." She shook her head. "I just-"

"You need not apologize young lady." He patted her hand. "It is we who should be sorry. You have been through an ordeal."

Maria felt tears stinging at her face. "Do I look that bad?"

"Your eyes reflect more than you know." He commented. "Including that you are here for your own reasons. Looks can be created, but eyes always tell the truth."

Maria felt her nose beginning to run, as her tears spilled out from her eyes. He was right. He had enough insight to see all the hurt, and fear she had tried so pitifully to bury.

A hand sat on her shoulder. She looked up to see Orange smiling sadly at her. It was heartening to have even the smallest amount of sympathy.

"Come." The rat called, releasing her hand, and walking to the elevator. Orange gave her another quick smile, then ducked after his sensei. Maria brushed at the tears still trailing down her face. She wasn't about to lose it now. Too much depended on her to just break totally down. Not here, and not now.

Maria walked after the group headed towards the elevator. She wasn't sure where she was going, but one thing was clear in her mind. She was, for the moment, safe.

* * *

Amy stood at the ready. In front of her, her most hated enemy. In her hands, a katana. At her hip, a hand gun.

The woman in front of her smiled, holding her own katana at the ready. She was shorter than Amy, with an oriental face, and short black hair, hanging limply around her face. Her slim body was held safe from her attackers. Her allegiance was stamped on her chest in bright red paint. It reminded Amy of fresh blood.

"Amy Connrad." He Asian accent colored her words. "We have long been rivals."

"No..." Amy murmured, her grip tightening around her weapon. "I've always been the better of us."

"We shall see..."

They ran towards each other, neither woman slowing their charge. Both wanted blood.

Amy pulled her katana up, slashing at her enemy shoulder. The other woman blocked the blow, and aimed a kick at Amy's mid-section.

The Younger woman went flying back into the wall with a grunt. As the Foot ninja came rushing after her opponent, Amy flicked her sword at the oncoming warrior. The woman paused to deflect the weak movement, as Amy jumped to her feet, and threw three quick strikes at her opponent. Amy gave three more fast strikes, and then tossed a well aimed kick at her feet. The Foot Ninja let out a snarl, and charged back into the fight.

Amy pulled her katana back up at the ready. Metal clashed, and blood spurted onto the ground, as Amy clashed blades, then swept the tip of her weapon at her opponents face. She just grazed her, but it drew blood. First blood meant Amy was ahead somehow. It was obvious in her opponent's eyes, as the woman rushed her, turning her sword in quick, vicious strikes. Amy barely had time to block them, as they flick two cuts onto her left cheek. Anger flashed through her at the damage that had been done. She gave a wild cry, flicking her own katana into deadly piercing strikes. The other woman smiled, twisting her own sword at the same speeds. The clashing of metal sounded constantly, three on the tale of one, tearing into the peacefulness of the night.

"You'll die here!" Amy growled, pressing her rival back.

"No," She laughed, throwing a nasty stab at Amy's neck. It was deflected. "You are the one who will meet your end tonight!"

"Ah, shut up!" Amy shouted, kicking her rival to one side. "I am better than you!"

The Foot ninja flew to her feet, and let out a howl of fury. She rammed into her opponent, and stabbed her hard in the shoulder.

Amy screamed in pain, and rage, an inhuman cry. Amy flew to her feet, and thrust her katana with a dangerous, and clumsy blow at her enemy. The other woman knocked her aside with her foot, and with an almost effortless blow from the blunt side of her sword, she sent Amy's weapon flying. It skidded to her right, ten feet out of reach.

Amy cursed beneath her breath.

"Better than me?" The Asian woman laughed. "I think not."

Amy turned onto her feet, and fled. Tears of anger stained her face as she ran.

"Run you coward." The woman smiled. "That's all your family's ever done."

* * *

Maria soon discovered that the elevator led to a large, spacious living area underground. It surprised her at the way it felt so much like a home, with a sign hanging on the wall, and a comfortable air to it. It was a peaceful atmosphere, something Maria had long lost. She breathed it in, feeling the soothing peace wash over her. This wasn't a home. It was a sanctuary.

"Let's get that glass out, okay?" Purple said, leading her to a nearby couch. It was old, and worn looking, with miss-matching patches sewed in, but she didn't mind. Nearly anything felt appealing here. To either sides of the couch were recliners, and directly in front of it was a large screened TV, and dozens of monitors placed randomly around it. Off to her left was a computer set up that would make her sister Amy green with envy, despite the worn condition of the of it. It was tucked away in a small corner, and sitting on the other side of the door was a work bench, littered with more tools, mostly things Maria had never seen before. Past this was a pair of screen like double doors, which appeared to made from wood, and colored paper almost, but Maria couldn't tell.

To her right, a Kitchen sat, with an old fridge, and a toaster oven. A table sat in the middle. Just past the kitchen, there was a door way. Maria couldn't see past it, but she made a mental note to check it out later. Nestled next to the kitchen was a flight of stairs, which led up to a second, and third story deck. Both decks circled around leading into another flight of stairs which ended between the Computer's corner, and the doorway. Metal doors littered both levels, spaced out nicely. Maria had to admit it, these guys had a nice home.

'It's bigger than mine!' She thought glancing around in surprise. 'And we have more people than they do!'

"Okay, hold still..." Purple had sat her down, and had been slowly cutting her pants leg off, so as to not caught it while pulling the glass out. Maria had barley even noticed this as she had been absorbed in studying over the place where she now found herself.

With a decisive tug on the glass, her ripped it out. Maria let out a groan, but otherwise held her tongue. She wasn't in the mood to scream, or yelp. It all just hurt.

"Mikey, would you go get the First Aid kit?" He asked, setting the large sheet of glass aside.

"Anymore glass?" He questioned Maria.

"No, just cuts and bruises." She replied. "And a ton of questions."

"We also have our questions." The rat stated, coming to stand in front of her. Red, who had been slouching in the chair to her left sat up some at his sensei's comment. Blue had been standing behind the rat, now stood, arms crossed at the back of the couch.

Despite the peaceful air, Maria suddenly felt surrounded, and very venerable. Had Maria been here a few weeks ago, she would have felt fear, and trepidation at such a scene. She might have called her brother's for help, or begged Amy to help her out of this. However, Maria had changed in her week or so on the run. She wanted help. The dread of failing, and the overwhelming helplessness she wanted to end. She wanted to hand over the job, let the Paladins who knew what they were doing handle it. Let them save the day.

Maria sat up some.

"I don't know a whole lot." She warned.

"We'll take anything you can give us." Blue replied.

"Okay..." Maria closed her eyes, preparing to recount her tale.

* * *

I hope I've got you all asking questions by now. Review!


	11. David and the Mona Lisa

_Random Rant:_So yeah, I've been MIA for a while, Huh? Sorry to all ya'll. It's been a bit busy because my Mum's had her baby. (I've got a wonderful little sister ya'll ^o^) and then of course Thanksgiving. I've been kicked out of my room, living with my younger sister morgan for three, (four weeks now?) Because my brother (Oh yes, the pain in the neck thing is in place. Just wait `till I get to see both my brothers. -_-' Love you Corey!)came home for the holidays. So.... Updating has been a non-existent thing, and I apologize. Anywho, here's the next chapter. (Glad to have it up. ^_^)

* * *

**_Rated T for_:** Violence, and mild language. (everything in it's place. If you see something too strong, or out of place, let me know.)

_Inspiration: _Brothers. Pain in neck when they're around, pain in the heart when they're gone.

**Thanks to:**moon eclipse shadows, roudyredd, painterofsorrows, Pretender Fanatic, and i.Sorry I haven't put one up in a while ya'll.

* * *

Professor Perry poked his head out to check on David. He hadn't been able to get the boy's face, and voice out from his head. Something about them just seemed so familiar.

At the moment, David was staring at the pink electronics, almost as if he were trying to decide whether or not he wanted to risk a quick poke. If it had been anybody in the CIA's payroll, The Professor might have snapped at them, but seeing as it was an outsider, he couldn't help but find the childish temptation humorous. His Lab assistants would have been less amused, closer to sheer panic. He wouldn't have blamed them either. The consequences for such actions were...well, from anyone else unwarranted. Sadly, he knew it was natural for such behavior.

The professor cleared his throat, making David's head snap up. He grinned sheepishly, stepping back from the electronics.

"How long have you been here?" He asked, glancing between the boy, and the undisturbed table.

"Uh, hard to say." David shrugged. He glanced at the clock on the wall. His eyes widened.

"Wow. It's been a good six hours." He touched his stomach involuntarily. "No wonder I'm hungry."

Professor Perry smiled. "Why don't you come with me? If the Captain complains, I'll take the responsibility."

David took a mere moment to consider, before he nodded. It was obvious he wanted out of the room.

"Alright, come this way." The professor smiled. "Just don't touch anything."

* * *

"So that's it. That's my story." Maria finished. The others in the room remained silent for a moment, as if still soaking in her words. They had been attentive during the whole story, with he only movement being Purple biding her lag up, and Orange taking a seat next to her. Blue, Red, and the rat had stayed in one place the entire time.

"So, you're running from the foot, and you think they have your brother Aiden." Blue muttered, his arms still crossed, his eyes closed in thought.

"Uh the foot?" Maria blinked.

"The name of the ninja who attacked you." Purple supplied. "They call themselves the foot."

"The Foot with many Toes." Maria chuckled shaking her head. "My life is becoming a childhood story."

"What?" Orange asked.

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Maria sighed. "Now, I want to ask a question."

The others in the room all shifted uncomfortably. Maria caught that. They didn't look surprised, but they didn't look comfortable. She decided to save the main question for later.

"Why did y'all attack me?" She asked. "It's not a very effective way to get information, even Oroku Saki knew that."

Blue winced. "That's my fault." He volunteered. "I needed the information as soon as possible and..." He shifted slightly. "I got impatient. I'm sorry."

"S`okay." Maria shrugged. "I guess I would be too..."

"Would you?" Red asked, giving her a suspicious eye.

"I hate Oroku Saki." Maria stated. "I don't know what y'all's vendetta against him is, but I do know that he separated my family."

"He destroyed my family as well." The rat stated, breathing slowly. His eyes were shut, as if her were remembering some distant memory.

"Sensei." Blue murmured.

The rat opened his eyes. The pain in his face disappeared.

"We too have our own story." He said, changing the subject. "We were once merely animals, wandering the sewers." He sat down in the other recliner slowly, crossing his legs to sit Indian style.

Blue came around to sit at the foot of the couch. Orange looked up some, and Purple too sat up some. Red refused to move at all. He seemed to be bored with his family member's reaction.

"I spent my days going through the sewers, searching for food, trying to survive. Then, one day I came across four baby turtles. They were swimming through radioactive goo. I felt concerned for their safety, and gathered them up in a coffee can. The next day I awoke to find that they had doubled in size. My own size had increased greatly, and we kept growing, until one of them spoke. More words came after, and," He smiled slightly. "I'm afraid that from Michelangelo, they haven't stopped."

Orange crossed his arms, while Red snickered. Purple smiled in amusement. Blue remained still, his face betraying no emotion.

"After a time I decided to teach them the ways of ninjutsu, and I gave them each names."

They all sat up a little straighter.

"Michelangelo." Orange stood up, and tossed a big grin at Maria.

"Raphael." Red got up lazily, and crossing his arms, he gave the girl a curt nod.

"Donatello." Purple got up to his feet, and waved.

"And Leonardo." Blue got to his feet swiftly. He didn't even acknowledge Maria. She noted the far off look in his eyes. He was lost in thought.

"And I am Splinter." The rat finished. "Now you know our story Maria Connrad,"

Maria met Splinter's gaze. "And we know yours."

She dipped her head. "Thank you."

"Master Splinter," Donatello spoke up. "She might want to stay here until we can get her back home."

Maria's head snapped up. "Home!?" She asked.

Leonardo glanced at her. "We'll track down the shredder, and we'll rescue our brother. I see no need for you to stay."

Maria felt her face turn red. "There's more to it though!"

He crossed his arms. The ridges above his eyes were raised, as if to say 'Oh really?'

"Please tell us." Splinter said, breaking the tension.

"The reason I ran from Saki in the first place, is because of a story my brother's used to tell. It's also because of a story that I'm even here."

"A story?" Raphael asked, skeptical.

Maria shifted some in her seat. She felt stupid, trying to explain it, and somewhat venerable, sharing her beloved childhood stories, that had been an intimate part of her life for years. Now here she was, preparing to tell it to perfect strangers.

"There once was a man with two faces, Oroku the Ruthless, and Saki the suave..."

Leonardo rolled his eyes. Maria's own green eyes snapped angrily.

"Both were evil, but different. Saki was persuasive, and pleasant. Oroku was hard, and dangerous, a bad person to cross. But the two were one, so it took four paladins to defeat him..."

The air seemed to grow still. Leonardo turned to face her.

"You mean us...don't you?"

Maria crossed her arms, and shrugged. "I don't know. I only know all the stories they'd tell me."

She smiled a little. "But it _is_ why I came to New York."

"It seems as if your brothers gave you a defense against Oroku Saki." Splinter smiled. "You are welcome to stay with us until we find your brothers."

Leonardo didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes, and turned away.

"So be it."

Maria half-wondered what he had against her.

"Michelangelo."

Michelangelo jumped to his feet.

"Yes sensei?"

"Please show our guest to a room." The rat turned towards the screens. "I have some meditating to do."

"Yessir." The orange turtle grinned. Maria smiled back. This turtle's personality and smile were infectious.

"Com'n." He said leading her to the stairs. "So, second or third?"

Maria blinked in confusion. "Second?"

"Good choice dudette." He gave her thumbs up. It looked a little odd with only three fingers.

"So, uh..." She tried a stab at a normal conversation.

"Do you like comic books?" He asked.

"What?" The question had caught her off guard.

"Comic Books, Like Batman? Or maybe-"

"Spiderman." She said quickly. "And Dare-devil."

"A Marvel girl, eh?" He grinned. "Sweet!"

He pushed open a heavy door, the fifth, and the very middle of all the doors. It was a dark room, and Maria couldn't see a thing.

Michelangelo pressed his hand along the wall, until he got a loud click. A light flicked on, revealing a small room, bigger than her old room though, with a small, single sized bed in the corner. There were two shelves on the wall, and not much else adorning the room. There were a couple of boxes stacked in the corners to the left, and right of the door.

Maria looked it over, trying not to be critical. It was better than the streets, and looked more comfortable than her van.

"Hmm..." Donatello's voice came from behind. For some reason, Maria could hear a difference in their voices.

"Sorry about all the junk..." He said, giving her a small smile. "We'll move it out tomorrow."

"Uh, Okay. I can do it, just tell me where to stick it." She replied.

"Don't worry about it Dudette." Michelangelo grinned, patting her arm. "We'll take it out later."

Maria gave a small nod, giving in. She was bone tired. She knew that sleep would help her battered body.

"`Kay..."

"Anything you need?" Donatello asked. "We can get some ice for your leg."

"No, thanks anyway." Maria smiled. "I'm just gonna get some rest..."

Both nodded.

"Call us if you need us." The Purple masked turtle said, closing the door behind him.

Maria limped over to the bed and let herself drop onto the soft material. Within minutes, she was asleep.

__________________________________________________________________________

Amy sat, sweat, and water dripping from her hair. It was slick, and flat now, instead of its usual bouncy waves. Her breaths came in sharp puffs, as she tried to fight off the wave of nausea. She felt sick. Sick with herself. Sick with other girls.

'Other girls...' She thought spitefully. 'Like Maria...Innocent. Happy. Carefree.'

Anger caused her to slam her fist into the wall. She never had a choice. Aiden needed her, and whether or not he admitted, he would fail without her. Just like his pitiful attempt at rescuing Maria.

"Why?" The words dripped from her mouth in pain. "Why did this happen?" Tears streaked down her face. "Why did _we_ have to pay?"

Only silence answered her burdened soul. Amy curled into a ball, letting the tears ran freely. For once in all her eighteen years, Amy Connrad was truly alone, with no hope, and no direction.

* * *

Maria woke up with a start. Fear made her sit up straight, rubbing her eyes. Something felt wrong. Maria's dreams were crowded with pain. Pain of people she loved. She shook her head.

"Their getting worse..." She mumbled. Maria leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling. The events of the day had haunted her in her sleep, twisting the up-beat Michelangelo, into a dangerous monster that ripped people in two. The others were worse, warped into hideous beasts, except for Leonardo, who just watched the carnage impassively.

Maria shook off the horrible thought off, as she sat up. The silence in her room was broken by the loud clucking of her steel-toed boots shuffling across the floor. She winced, noting that as soon as she had eaten, she was going to take off the painful shoes. Her feet were killing her.

She pressed her weight against the heavy door, forcing it to swing out noisily. She trudged to look over the railing. Despite the TV being on, the place looked deserted. It cast the whole room in an eerie light, creating a feeling of fear, and desperation. Feelings that haunted her dreams, and daunted her perception of the future. Those and a keen uncertainty.

Maria walked down the stairs slowly, and with careful steps. Falling down the stairs like last time simply wasn't going to do. She'd probably pull her hair out if she did.

Maria made it to the couch, and sat down roughly. Her feet ached. Her head still held the remains of a headache that could kill a mule. Her arms looked extremely bruised, and battered.

'I look like a corpse...' She thought, running a hand through her hair. 'Check that, I _feel_ like a corpse...'

Her hand struck something sharp. She grasped it, and pulled it out of her hair. A large, shiny piece of glass sat in the palm of her hand, one edge stained with her blood.

Maria stared at, a little emotional. Tears spilled out from her already bloodshot eyes.

"I look like _I_ was the one who was in that inferno..." The thought came back to Maria and she winced. 'That woman...She's dead...Because of me...'

Maria looked down at her hands. She wondered silently if Lee had ever had to kill. Or David, and Aiden for that matter. Amy was a pacifist. She'd never hurt anyone without reason, or without no other choice.

'And I _had_ another choice...' Maria thought bitterly. 'I could have kept running...'

"Lee..." She sighed aloud. "Just what have you entangled me up in?"

The still air met her question, neither laughing, nor helping. It was comforting in a sense. She could think here. Consider, and ponder all that had happened to her. For some reason she couldn't explain, the air held a peace so surreal, she could almost touch it. Hug it.

A hand touched her shoulder. Maria didn't react instantly. It didn't startle her the way it would have if she still running. She merely turned to see Splinter studying her.

"Come." He said, walking towards a room just beyond the kitchen. Maria struggled to her feet. It felt like she had weights tied to her feet, and arms. She followed slowly after the Rat. He disappeared beyond the doorway. She trailed after him

Upon entering the room Maria noticed instantly a change in the air. Here it was more focused, more set upon a goal. What goal, Maria wasn't sure, but she felt it. It just seemed to wrap itself around her, like a blanket.

"Sit." The rat gestured. Maria did so. It was hard to see much in the dim light, a metal locker, a punching bag, and some practice dummies. Not much else was visible to Maria's eyes, other than Splinter's form.

"You are saddened by something?" He ventured.

"Not...exactly..." Maria tumbled over the words. "I'm just a little worried. My brothers are still out there."

The rat closed his eyes. "I learned a skill from my Master Yoshi, when I was still a house pet. A perception that allowed me to sense the aura of a person."

"Aura?" Maria blinked.

"The feelings and intentions of others." He explained. "And a sense of knowing when something is wrong."

Maria blinked again, taking that in.

"You have talent in that area." He stated. "You have not been frightened of us."

"I've seen so much in that last few weeks; I wouldn't be surprised if you told me that Elvis was alive, and that the joker was a misunderstood guy, who loves flowers."

The rat smiled. "As that may be, you have shown a sense of understanding. Tell me," He looked at her, his wise brown eyes piercing her green ones. "What do you sense from this room?"

Maria bit her lip. She didn't understand the hesitation.

"Take your time." Splinter encouraged.

Maria closed her eyes. "Focus. Persuasion. Learning?"

"Keep going." The rat ordered.

"A kind of peace... almost..." She opened her eyes. "An atmosphere of comfort, but...focused on a goal, at the same time..."

Splinter nodded. "It is true. This is a dojo. A training place, where I teach my sons the art of ninjutsu."

He waved his hand out, gesturing to the rest of the room.

"This is also where I shall teach you to harness your skill of awareness."

Maria looked down at the floor. "But why?"

The question floated through the quiet room.

"Why teach me this skill?"

The rat smiled. "To help you. You have little defense against your enemies, if you had no one to protect you, you would be easily overtaken."

Maria hated that he was right.

"True enough... But pray tell, what will this... Sixth Sense do?"

Splinter smiled. "When you are able to gauge ones intentions, you can use caution."

"True. But there will be situations I can't avoid, no matter this sense." Maria argued. "Why not teach me self-defense or something a little more practical?"

The rat closed his eyes. "Please do not misjudge me, Maria Connrad." He said quietly.

"I want to teach you this before hand, out of concern to your injuries. Once your body has healed, then I will gladly teach you such skills."

Maria winced slightly. She hadn't meant to offend; she just wanted to be able to protect herself.

"I...Accept... Thank you..."

* * *

David walked through the lab, rather impressed with all he was seeing. He knew a thing or two about the scientific realm, although his history with the Foot took him from such a field. Amy also had a thing for sciences, although she dealt more with computers, than anything else.

David walked alongside Professor Perry, glancing here and there at the large, lab. He saw maybe two people running around, tending to equipment, and monitoring scanners.

"How many assistants do you have Professor?" He asked.

"Three." He replied. "We're hoping to gain another one soon."

David's eyebrows shot up. "How do you maintain this facility with only three people!?" He exclaimed.

"It's extremely difficult." He replied with a sigh. "Honestly, we have to stay around the clock to make up for the lack of people."

David blinked. "Surely the CIA isn't _that _short handed professor."

"Perry, please." He replied. "And I'm afraid this project is a little more complicated."

The Professor led him to another door. He tapped in a few more numbers.

"Voice verification." A monotone voice sounded out.

"Professor Perry, at the public's service." The Professor said, smiling.

There was a quiet whirring. "Welcome professor."

The doors opened with a soft hiss. The Professor walked inside, motioning for David to follow. He did so.

Inside the room was a simple office. A wooden desk, a light blue rug on the floor, and a Small, grey lamp on the desk. The window at the far end of the room let in a great deal of light, and also gave a great view of the city. Aside from that, there was only the Desk chair, and three chairs sitting in the corner. For the lab assistance, David guessed.

The professor plopped into the seat at the desk. He motioned for David to have a seat.

"I'm curious now." He stated. "Are you the son of May Connrad?"

David didn't look surprised. "Yep. You knew her?"

Perry nodded. "Quite well. She was a genuine genius."

David didn't reply.

"But tell me David, why are _you_ here? Aside from the Captains wishes, what's your reason for being here?"

David sighed. "Long story. If you knew my mom's old assignment, you'd know why I'm here."

Perry shook his head. "I'm sorry. It's not much of a life, is it?"

"No..." David stared out the window. "It's not...."

Silence sat between them for a moment.

"Tell me, how is your mother nowadays? I heard sh-"

The door flung open harshly slamming into the wall. David's head snapped up. Perry's pleasant demeanor faltered into despair.

Standing in the doorway was a tall, angry looking creature. It was green from head to two, with a yellow midsection running from the chest down to the lower torso. It's face had a snout sticking out, and two angry brown eyes glaring with a certain amount of loathing at the Professor. Brown hair trailed down her back, cut to medium length, and bangs coming just above her eyes. It was easy to tell she was female, despite the reptilian features, including, a long tail, snapping back and forth like a whip.

"Somebody touched my stuff." She growled, ignoring David. Her voice sounded very normal, despite the anger in it.

"Mona, I assure you, no one here would mess with your things." Perry said, looking apprehensive.

"Yeah, right!" The girl snarled. "Just like my future was supposed to be promising!"

The Professor winced, pushing his glasses further up onto his nose.

"Mona, we have a guest!" He hissed.

The creature stiffened suddenly, and turned to face David. David blinked stupidly. He was a little surprised by the sudden interruption.

She stared at him, a red tint creeping in over her face. She opened her mouth, choking on the words, creating a jumble of unintelligible babble.

She whirled back to face the Professor. "How _could_ you!?!" She cried, tears springing from her eyes. She swiveled back around towards the door, and fled the room.

David's mouth fell open. He wasn't too sure which surprised him more, the Reptilian girl who had just fled, or her sudden mood swings.

Perry sighed heavily, and rubbed his temple. "Please, tell me you didn't touch her things?"

David winced. "Guilty as charged." He admitted. "Should I ..." He motioned to the door. "Um, apologize?"

The professor shook his head.

"No, no, no." He said quickly. "Mona doesn't take too well to humans."

"I noticed..." David muttered.

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, the Captain's going to ring my neck." Perry sighed.

"I _do_ know the meaning of secrecy, you know." David chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, the door was this way when I got here."

Perry smiled. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." David shrugged. He glanced back out the window.

'Well, well, well...' He almost smiled at the thought. 'Look what I've found Lee...'

* * *

Review Ya'll. It keeps me working. XD


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